Kentucky Derby 2025: The high stakes price tag of owning a champion racehorse
Ahead of this weekend’s 2025 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Louisville, we take a look at the price of owning and entering a horse in the race.
While the financial rewards of winning the Kentucky Derby are potentially very high for owners, so too are the costs of entering a horse in the historic race, whose 151st edition is to be held this weekend at Churchill Downs.
How much does it cost to buy a Kentucky Derby race horse?
The first step towards Kentucky Derby success is, clearly, buying a horse. And this horse must be of a specific age and breed: only Thoroughbreds that are three years old at the time of the race are eligible to enter. This is a purchase whose cost tends to reach the six-figure mark - but can climb higher than that.
The bookies’ favorite in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Journalism, was bought by its owners, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, for $825,000 in 2023.
However, it doesn’t appear to be essential to spend close to, or above, a million dollars if you want to own a Derby winner. Mage, which triumphed in 2023, had been bought for a comparatively affordable $290,000.
Among the 2024 participants whose sale price is listed by the Kentucky Derby’s race organisers, the average purchase cost was just under $450,000. Per the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Ben Roberts, the average auction price of a horse entering the 2023 Derby was around the same amount.
The cheapest entrant in the 2024 field was West Saratoga, whose owner Harry L. Veruchi paid just $11,000 for the horse in 2022. It was, though, a +6600 outsider for victory in Louisville, according to odds collected by Oddschecker.
How high are the running costs of having a race horse?
According to an estimate by NBC’s Mary Omatiga, the cost of maintaining a race horse - food, training, medical expenses, etc - is around $50,000 a year. Omatiga also calculates the price of entering a horse in qualifying races for the Kentucky Derby, and paying for its transportation to and from these events, at about $175,000.
Finally, if the horse qualifies for the Kentucky Derby - just 20 spots are up for grabs - Churchill Down charges a widely reported $50,000 for participation in the race: an initial entry fee of $25,000, plus a starting fee of $25,000.
How much is the Kentucky Derby prize money?
Owners do, however, have the opportunity to earn a sizeable prize cheque if their horse is victorious in the Derby, a race popularly dubbed “the greatest two minutes in sports”. This year, there will be a $5 million purse at the event. Per The Athletic’s Andrew DeWitt and Drew Jordan, only the Breeders’ Cup Classic, held at alternating venues in November each year, has a larger purse among American races, at $7 million.
Of the $5 million purse at the 2024 Derby, $3.1 million went to the victor. According to a prize-money breakdown by racing expert Keeler Johnson, the owner typically takes home 80 percent of the payout, with 10 percent each going to the horse’s jockey and its trainer.
How often does the favorite win the Kentucky Derby?
How do horses qualify for the Kentucky Derby?
Victory in the Kentucky Derby, it seems, can also offer owners the opportunity to cash in on their horse at auction. A month after winning the Derby in 2000, Fusaichi Pegasus was sold for a world-record $70 million, nearly 20 times its original purchase price.
How much did the 2024 Kentucky Derby horses cost?
1. Dornoch (+5000 odds to win): $325,000
2. Sierra Leone (+300): $2.3 million
3. Mystik Dan (+2800): purchase price not listed
4. Catching Freedom (+1000): $575,000
5. Catalytic (+5000): $125,000
6. Just Steel (+2800): $500,000
7. Honor Marie (+2000): $40,000
8. Just a Touch (+1200): $300,000
9. T O Password (+4000): purchase price not listed
10. Forever Young (+850): $780,000
11. Track Phantom (+4000): $500,000
12. West Saratoga (+6600): $11,000
13. Endlessly (+5000): purchase price not listed
14. Domestic Product (+2800): purchase price not listed
15. Grand Mo the First (+10000): $135,000
16. Fierceness (+300): purchase price not listed
17. Stronghold (+4000): purchase price not listed
18. Resilience (+3300): purchase price not listed
19. Society Man (+3300): $85,000
20. Epic Ride (+5000): $160,000
2025 Kentucky Derby: when, where, how to watch
The 2025 Kentucky Derby is to be held on Saturday May 3, 2025, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. According to the official race day schedule, the Derby is slated to take place at 6:57 p.m. ET/3:57 p.m. PT. Viewers in the US will be able to watch the event on NBC and Peacock.
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