P Squared

 K.C.(10/18/12)

This weekend was somewhat confusing - P.R. and P.S.  (P squared) were with the family on the excursion to Keenland (the last day of the season).  Several mentions of their identical first names resulted in dual responses.  Yet throughout the confusion it was a wonderful time.  Even with the cold blustery weather, the rain held off and the races were enjoyable.  Ellen picked the first three races perfectly, so we expanded our equestrian expertise into attemping the Superfecta.

The Superfecta is picking the first four horses.  This is of course confused by the variations of mathematics.  The Superfecta "wheel" is picking the first horse with all the combinations of the next three.  The Superfecta "box" is actually making 24 different bets to assure every combination of the four winners.  Or if you are really an expert - just the plain Superfecta - picking the EXACT order of the first four horses.

So it was a "fun" in the ninth race (the 55th running of "The Fayette") when P.R. bet a Superfecta but mistakenly bet the Superfecta exact (the exact order of the first four horses) when he thought he was betting a Superfecta box.  So at the final crossing when #4, #3, #5, and #6 results became official, we all speculated how P.R. would have felt winning Superfecta Box paying  about $259 for a $0.10 bet ($2.40 overall).  Alas - he had picked the order as #3, #4, #5, #6.  What we didn't tell P.R. is that the Superfecta exact paid $4,539.60 for a $2 bet.

So the day ended in great coincidences of mathematics.  P squared and Combinatorial Statistics.