Heptadecaphobia In The Kentucky Derby
By Ray Wallin
Seventeen. It is also considered unlucky in Italian culture when viewed as the Roman numeral XVII and changed around to VIXI it translates from Latin as “I lived.” If you are heptadecaphobic, you are scared of it.
Seventeen. It is not always bad though.
Tiz the Law – Courtesy of Churchill Downs/Coady Photography.
It is a prime number. It is the atomic number of chlorine. It is the number of NBA championships that the Boston Celtics have won. It is the number of syllables in haiku. The great Bob Gibson set this record when he struck out this many Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series and played the same number of seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals. Chris Mullin wore this number which is now retired with the Golden State Warriors.
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It is also the only post position in the Kentucky Derby to never produce a winner. In 2018, I first wrote about it, however this year with heavy favorite Tiz The Law set to start from that cursed spot, it was time to revisit it.
| 1 | Finnick the Fierce | SCR | Rey Hernandez | Martin Garcia |
| 2 | Max Player | 30-1 | Steven M. Asmussen | Ricardo Santana, Jr. |
| 3 | Enforceable | 30-1 | Mark Casse | Adam Beschizza |
| 4 | Storm the Court | 50-1 | Peter Eurton | Julien Leparoux |
| 5 | Major Fed | 50-1 | Greg Foley | James Graham |
| 6 | King Guillermo | SCR | Juan Carlos Avila | Samy Camacho |
| 7 | Money Moves | 30-1 | Todd Pletcher | Javier Castellano |
| 8 | South Bend | 50-1 | Tyler Gaffalione | Bill Mott |
| 9 | Mr. Big News | 50-1 | Bret Calhoun | Gabriel Saez |
| 10 | Thousand Words | 15-1 | Bob Baffert | Florent Geroux |
| 11 | Necker Island | 50-1 | Chris Hartman | Miguel Mena |
| 12 | Sole Volante | 30-1 | Patrick Biancone | Luca Panici |
| 13 | Attachment Rate | 50-1 | Dale Romans | Joe Talamo |
| 14 | Winning Impression | 50-1 | Dallas Stewart | Joe Rocco, Jr. |
| 15 | NY Traffic | 20-1 | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | Paco Lopez |
| 16 | Honor A. P. | 5-1 | John A. Shirreffs | Mike Smith |
| 17 | Tiz the Law | 3-5 | Barclay Tagg | Manny Franco |
| 18 | Authentic | 8-1 | Bob Baffert | John Velazquez |
