Saturday is the Kentucky Derby, which means people who have no idea about how horse racing works will head to various establishments to place their bets.

The smart money is usually on the favorites, and that has held true the past few years. But this year – the 145th running of the Derby – is a little different, now that pre-race favorite Omaha Beach has been scratched. The field is now more open, and possibly a better chance or a longshot to win.

Looking back at the history of the Kentucky Derby, there have been some notable longshots that have paid of big. Ones like the famous Donerail back in 1913, who had 91-1 odds heading into the race. As far as longshots go Donerail had the biggest $2 payoff, earning a bettor $14.

Mine That Bird, back in 2009, also had over a $103 payout for $2 bets after heading into the race with 50-1 odds.

This year, both Master Fencer and Gray Magician have 50-1 odds heading into Saturday’s race.

Betting the longshot isn’t always the smartest thing to do. But there are other strategies you could call less advisable: like betting on a fun or cute name.

And in Derby history, there have been some interesting ones.

They include names like Burgoo King in 1932 and Whooper in 1935 (It seems like they should go together, even though they were long before fast-foot chains were around.) There’s also Happy Gilmore (1882) and Die Hard (1959).

And if you’re a Marvel fan like me, you might have enjoyed names in the past like Black Panther (1927) or Top Avenger (1981).

All of these are a whole lot more original than The Winner (1896).

So after reading over some of these names, I got to thinking what cool name would I give my horse if I had one? Red lighting? Nah. Orange Lighting is more of my taste. Or maybe Luck
of the Irish to bank off my love of Notre Dame.

Then I thought of some of my co-workers. Randy Ruef would be “Go-Tigers”, Jake Logli’s would be “Prison Mike” (The Office), and Jackson’s would be either “Go-Pack-Go” or “Two
Years Away” (his longtime fantasy sports name). And of course, our program director Mark Zander has to have a horse named “Colonel Zander.”

As for this year, despite the fun of picking longshots or crazy names, I like my money too much to go that route. So I’m going with the new morning line favorite Game Winner – neither a longshot, nor a creative name, but a fairly safe bet.

— Jordan Goethe, Sportsfan 1330