Kentucky Derby purse boosted to $5 million

The purse for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the most prestigious race in the United States, has been raised to $5 million, Churchill Downs announced Wednesday.

The $2 million increase in the purse will make the Derby the second-richest race in the country, just behind the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Derby purse had been $3 million since 2019. It had been run for $2 million from 2005-18.

Along with the significant gain in bloodstock value that accrues to any Derby winner that is not a gelding, the winner of the race will now receive $3.1 million, while the runner-up will receive $1 million. Third place will be worth $500,000, and fourth place will be worth $250,000.

Also as part of the announcement, Churchill said that it has increased purses so that all of the Grade 1 races during its 38-day spring meet will be worth a minimum of $1 million, requiring $250,000 boosts for four Grade 1 races, including the La Troienne, Derby City Distaff, Churchill Downs, and Stephen Foster, to get them to the minimum. All told, the stakes schedule for the spring meet will now be worth $25.6 million, up from $20.1 million last year.

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The Kentucky Oaks, the race for 3-year-old fillies run the day prior to the Derby, also got a $250,000 boost, to make the purse $1.5 million, the largest purse for 3-year-old fillies in the country.

Churchill Downs and other Kentucky tracks – most of which Churchill now owns – have been enjoying robust purse increases over the past several years as the tracks generate more and more money from historical horse racing machines, devices that closely resemble slot machines.

Churchill has said that it has invested $1 billion over the past several years in buying tracks – including Ellis Park and Turfway Park – and building out casinos for the devices under a state law that gives racetracks monopolies on casino gambling.

A portion of the revenues from the devices goes directly to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, which awards bonuses to Kentucky-bred horses in any race run in the state.

“These record purses are a symbol of the health of horse racing in Kentucky,” said Bill Carstanjen, Churchill’s chief executive officer, in a press release.

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