Who Will Run in This Year’s Triple Crown?

Each year, one of the most exciting times in North American thoroughbred racing is during the running of the Triple Crown races.

Only three-year-old horses are eligible to run in these races, but other than age, how is it decided which horses get to run in the first race, the Kentucky Derby?

1. In what year were the horses born that will be competing in this year’s Triple Crown races?

2. In what year will foals born this year be eligible to race for the Triple Crown?

If a horse’s trainer and owner think their horse has a chance, they nominate their horse. If the nomination is submitted by midnight on January 25, it costs $600.

There is also a late nomination deadline on March 22. For any horses nominated after January 25 and before March 22, the fee is $6,000.

3. How much more does it cost for a late nomination than one submitted by midnight, January 25?

4. How many days does a trainer have to decide if they want to nominate their horse between January 25 and the late nomination deadline of March 22?

5. Imagine you are a thoroughbred trainer and you nominate your horse. You submit the papers at 13:45 on January 25. Are you in time?

This year, the total number of early nominated horses was four hundred and thirteen. This is the highest number of early nominations since the four hundred and forty-nine horses nominated in 2008.

6. How many more horses were nominated in 2008 than have been nominated so far this year? 

A horse not nominated by either deadline can still get into the Derby with a supplemental payment of $200,000. This payment is due the Wednesday before the race.

7. How much more money does it cost to make the supplemental payment than to make the late payment by March 22? Write your answer in expanded form.

What do the currently nominated horses look like? The graph to the right shows the four different colours of horses nominated and how many of each there are.

8. What kind of graph is this?

9. What would be a good title for this graph?

10. Label the vertical axis.

11. Label the horizontal axis.

12. What does each square in the graph represent?

We will be doing more posts about this year’s Triple Crown races leading up to the first race, the Kentucky Derby. How many more horses will be nominated by the March 22 deadline? Nobody knows right now.

The “Kentucky Derby Championship Series” is a series of races leading up to the Derby where horses earn points depending on where they finish. Who will the top horses be as we get closer to the first Saturday in May?

 

 

 

1. In what year were the horses born that will be competing in this year’s Triple Crown races?
Answer: 2014 – 3 = 2011. All the horses competing in this year’s Triple Crown races were born in 2011.

2. In what year will foals born this year be eligible to race for the Triple Crown?
Answer: 2014 + 3 = 2017. Foals born this year be eligible to race for the Triple Crown in 2017.

3. How much more does it cost for a late nomination than one submitted by midnight, January 25?
Answer: 6000 – 600 = 5400. It costs $5,400 more to make a late nomination.

4. How many days does a trainer have to decide if they want to nominate their horse between January 25 and the late nomination deadline of March 22?
Answer: 6 (days in January) + 28 (days in February) + 22 (days in March) = 56. Trainers have 56 days to make up their minds.

5. Imagine you are a thoroughbred trainer and you nominate your horse. You submit the papers at 13:45 on January 25. Are you in time?
Answer: Midnight is written as 24:00 on the 24-hour clock. The time you submitted the papers is written as 1:45 P.M. on the 12-hour clock, well before midnight. You’re in time!

6. How many more horses were nominated in 2008 than have been nominated so far this year?
Answer: 449 – 413 = 36. Thirty-six more horses were nominated in 2008 than have been nominated so far this year.

7. How much more money does it cost to make the supplemental payment than to make the late payment by March 22? Write your answer in expanded form.
Answer: 200,000 – 6,000 = 194,000. 100,000 + 90,000 + 4,000

8. What kind of graph is this?
Answer: The graph is a vertical bar graph.

9. What be a good title for this graph?
Answer: Colours of Horses Currently Nominated for this Year’s Triple Crown
(There may be more than one title for this graph. Did you come up with a different one? Why not share it in the comments section!)

10. Label the vertical axis.
Answer: Number of Horses

11. Label the horizontal axis.
Answer: Colours of Horses

12. What does each square in the graph represent?
Answer: 10 horses

Photos:
Churchill Downs by Jeff Kubina; CC BY-SA 2.0
Churchill Downs by Jeff Kubina; CC BY-SA 2.0