Even the most casual of horse racing fans, those who pull a name out of a hat each spring and hope to turn a dollar into a double sawbuck, know that the Kentucky Derby has an official song -- "My Old Kentucky Home."

It's a pre-race ditty, sung when the horses step on the track for the post parade. Grown men, usually the ones with bluegrass-stained feet, have been known to cry during the annual Churchill Downs sing-along. Some of those tears are brought on by too many mint juleps or the purchase of too many losing tickets.

What the Derby doesn't have is an official victory song. One of three may be offered next year if a late-charging colt named Stevie Wonderboy ends up in the winner's circle.

None of the choices will thrill track officials. They are: the theme songs from the popular game shows "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune," and the No. 1 song in America in 1950, "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts."

The Triple Crown of music belongs to Merv Griffin, one of the most popular and wealthiest show business personalities in the world.

Stevie Wonderboy also belongs to Griffin. Following a sweeping 1¾-length victory in Saturday's $1.4 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the chestnut colt has become the unofficial winter book favorite for next spring's Run for the Roses.

Griffin, believed to be a billionaire after recording "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" (it sold 3 million copies), hosting a popular network variety show from 1962 through 1986, and creating both "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy," collected $826,800 for Stevie Wonderboy's weekend work at Belmont Park. He also is facing one of the worst jinxes in modern racing.

No winner of the 21 previous renewals of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile has held form long enough to win the Kentucky Derby. Horses have been better off not even running in the rich late-season race, as 16 of the last 17 Derby winners passed on the Breeders' Cup.

Griffin, who looks much younger than his 80 years, is unfazed by the Derby bugaboo.

"The Derby. That's right in front of us. May 6," he said. "Sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home. I've got it all down."