Favorite win percentage
 

Track with the highest % of winning favorites in 2011 (minimum of 300 races)

Thistle: Favorite won 454 of 1,017 (44.64 % wins) and $1.81 ROI

This had a lot to do with three things.

#1: The stall situation at Presque Isle. Even last year, less than 500 could be stabled on the grounds here. Jamie Ness and a few others couldn't get all the stalls they wanted and kept some horses stabled at Thistle. Because they had stalls there, they had to run a little bit there. Ness was especially murderous at TDN.

#2: They still card races for Ohio breds. These races often get 7 or 8 horse fields where half of them can't outrun a goat and the likely winner can be narrowed down to two or three horses a great majority of the time.

#3: Lower than average field sizes. Very few tracks average smaller fields. Only places like Golden Gate, Emerald Downs, River Downs, and Portland Meadows.

Tracks with lowest % of winning favorites in 2011 (min of 300 races)

Oaklawn Park 159 of 517 (30.75% wins) and $1.61 ROI

Del Mar 103 of 328 (31.40% wins) and $1.69 ROI

Arlington Park 273 of 852 (32.04% wins) and $1.60 ROI

Doug,
Are you going next Saturday for the Ohio Derby?

I have no plans for it right now.

I've been to several Ohio Derby's... but here's my best Thistle story.

When I was 16 I took a job as a bus-boy at a steakhouse with a friend in the Mall.

The week I was hired, I worked my second or third ever shift on a Friday. That day, I dropped two gel tabs of acid at the lunch table in high school. Even though I was still tripping through it, my shift went fine.

Other than the fact that I was not only eating food off of peoples plates... but playing with it. At one of the tables I was supposed to be cleaning, I sat down and was spinning onion rings around on my finger before I'd dip them and eat them. A few of the waitresses got annoyed with me, but I don't think they had idea why I was so smiley.

The next day was a Saturday with a lot of major Derby preps. I had my grandma call in sick for me at the steakhouse -- and I talked my father and grandfather into going to Thistle Downs instead of the simulcast parlor here.

My career as a bus boy lasted about 3 or 4 shifts and less than one week.

h
Here are favorite winning percentages at the Canterbury meet so far: All races 48% (94/197)
$2.00 bet on each race ($394 returned $433 an ROI of around $2.20)

Canterbury was the top ROI track for winning favorites in 2011 as well.

Thistle may be the graveyard of value -- but Canterbury is the king of the value chalk.

That is some funny s.hit...Ok. Since EVD is known for it's big fields, what was the favorites win % in 2011.

330-for-928 (35.56% wins) and $1.78 ROI -- they did pretty darn well.

Canterbury was 179-for-436 (41.06% wins) and a North American best $1.89 ROI

Do you have the favorites' ROI for all tracks combined?

--Dunbar