Triple Crown 2016 Nominations Name Game

With the Kentucky Derby trail getting under way, this makes for an opportune time to review list of thoroughbreds nominated for this year's Triple Crown races - the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes - to see which sires, dams, breeders, trainers, owners might jump out as an early signal for your Derby horse.  It's never too early to select your Derby horse, especially with Derby Futures wagers starting seven months before the First Saturday in May, just be flexible enough to change your mind (and wager) as events develop along the trail.  The B Team does not wager based upon horse names although many race fans do (including some loyal subscribers to Heavy Artillery) and for them it makes a day at the races just that much for entertaining.  Heavy Artillery supports any effort directed at increasing attraction in The Sport of Kings.   Herewith, some interesting names and naming trends among the 2016 Triple Crown nominees.

If you have an affinity for the United States Air Force, this year provides you with a squadron of horses to root for: 

Air Force Blue
Air Vice Marhsall
Airman's Creed
Airoforce
Bombard
Bombs Away

If you have loyalty to other branches of the armed services or a general interest in all things martial:

Admiralty
Alpha Team
Avast Matey
Battery
Battle Tap
Black Ops
Catapult
Cocked and Loaded
Colonel Dan
Decorated Soldier
Flying Bullet
Fort Smith
Foxtrot Charlie
Galileo's Spear (FR)
General Macarthur
Gettysburg
Gun Runner
Knight's Key
Sail Ahoy
Sam Missile (IRE)
Sound the Horns
Start a War
The Lieutenant

If you're a red, white and blue flag waver:

American Freedom
American Promise

If you're an aficionado of strange and/or distant lands (and thus on an NSA watch list):

American Dubai
Arabian Leopard
Aztec Sense
Caribbean
Cotton Town
Destin
French Getaway
Ganges
Gulf of Mexico
Hoffenheim
Irish
Let's Meet in Rio
Oregon
Williamsburg
Zulu
Zulu Alpha

If you're an imbiber:

Cherry Wine
Urban Bourbon
Wine Not

If you're a student of mythology:

Cupid
Demonslayer
Eric the Trojan
Magical Mystery
Sea Wizard
Trojan Nation
Vulcan's Forge

If you're a paleontologist:

Diplodocus

If you're tech savvy:

Direct Message
Emoji Man
Latest Craze

If you're conspicuously consumptive:

Condominium
Dressed in Hermes
Fashionable Freddy
Stradivari

If you're a television junkie:

Eddie Haskell

If you're a student of finance:

Annual Report
Economic Model
Found Money
Money Illusion
Nominal Dollars
Prospectus

If you're a royalist:

Henry the King
King Kranz
Realm
Royal Obsession
Tiznoble
Z Royal

If you're braggadocios or egotistical:

Exaggerator
Hot Item
I Will Score
I.M. Mighty
Ima Monster
I'malreadythere
Prime Time Man
Sorryaboutnothing

If you're married to Bart Patton:

Patton Proud

If you have a specific given name:

Grand Max
Glenn Coco
Is Trevor Clever
Jay's Way
Jess I Am
John Q. Public
Justin Squared
Kelly Tough
Lani
Liam the Charmer
Marty Montana
Mo Tom
More Alex
Richie the Bull
Tom's Ready
Uncle Jerry
Urlacher
Van Damme
Wild About Deb

If you're a navigationist:

Driven West
Never Gone South
Northwest Tale
Southwest Trail
Westfest

If you're a believer in faith:

Adventist
Creator
Divine Shift
Fellowship
Mighty Moses
Perfect Saint
Saint Ignatius
Ten Blessings
Unexplained

If you like animals:

Billy's Kitten
Birdsong
Classy Bird
Eternal Bird
Great Dane
Mooose

If you're a 21st century Democratic Party voter:

Adios Reality

The best of the rest:

Commend
Hard Hitter
Highly Prized (GB)
Hollywood Strike
Isotherm
Inside Straight
Kiss Limit
Memories of Winter
Molasses Brown
Opportunistic
Percolator
Pinson
Scholar Athlete
Swipe
Thirdhalf
Twenty Four Seven

Best Futures Bet:

Ziconic

Roll the credits!