There’s a Catch-22 in horse betting (two if you count the horse by that name). The more popular the horse, the less it pays out if it wins. But what exactly makes a horse popular? In 2021, researchers at the University of Zurich published a study finding evidence that horses with fast-sounding names are bet on more. With no horses in this year’s Belmont Stakes lineup implying speed, we turned to RYA™ to see what other affinities might sway this year’s betters.

RYA can tell you what’s more likely to be popular with any audience - down to 1% of the population. If we were to bet based exclusively on the passions of the betters who like horse racing, our money would be on….

RYA™ is a proprietary and living data set that surveys 1,000 new respondents in the U.S. every week to better understand what people are passionate about spending their time and money on. We’ve been collecting the answer to this question for the past decade and can tell you what any audience would like to watch, listen to, read, attend, experience, eat or do across 180 genres and 20 actions. 

By understanding what people would rather be doing with their time and money, marketers can create content and experiences that their audiences truly care about. Sign up for beta access.