Chris 'The Bear' Fallica's Kentucky Derby Bear Bytes

The Kentucky Derby is this weekend, which means Saturday will be an exciting day for fans who love horses and for bettors looking for a fun way to wager a few bucks on the big race. 

This is the first leg of the Triple Crown and has a post time set for 6:57 p.m. ET Saturday.

But before the big race, let's have a little fun with my "Bear Bytes."

These little "bytes," as I call them, are just nuggets that will give you some entertaining talking points to pull from as you watch the Kentucky Derby festivities with friends and family. 

Here are the biggest ones that stuck out to me while doing my research:

— Eleven of the last 12 Kentucky Derby favorites have finished in the money. The last Derby favorite to finish outside the top three was Improbable in 2019 (fourth). Of the 11 that finished in the money, six won (the last being Justify in 2018), three finished second and two finished third — including the 2023 favorite Angel of Empire. 

— The only time Todd Pletcher had the Derby favorite was in 2017 when Always Dreaming won the Derby at nearly 5-1. 

— Think it’s as easy as the favorite and the second choice to run first and second? Only twice in the last 45 years has the Derby produced a result where the favorite won and the second choice ran second. Those two instances were in 2016, when favorite Nyquist won and the No. 2 choice Exaggerator was second, and in 2004, when favored Smarty Jones won and the No. 2 choice Lion Heart was second.

— The second betting choice in the Derby hasn’t won since Super Saver in 2010 and the fourth choice hasn’t won since Grindstone in 1996.

— Since Alysheba won in 1987, only one horse won from post 1, 2 or 3 and that was Real Quiet in 1998 from the third post. In 2022, Epicenter came close,