Kentucky Derby Factoids
Let me drop some Kentucky Derby knowledge on ya so when you're sipping your mint julep at a Kentucky Derby party, you sound super knowledgeable.
The purse for this year's Derby is at an all-time high of $3 million! Last year, the purse was a measly $2 million. $2 million had been the purse since 2005. $1 million was the prize from 1996 until 2004.
The winner doesn't get all $3 million, though. The money is divided. The winner gets $1.86 million, 2nd place gets $600,000, 3rd place gets $300,000, 4th place gets $150,000, and fifth place gets $90,000.
The money doesn't all go to the jockey. The jockey on the winning horse gets 10% and the rest of the top 5 get 5%.
All the other jockeys get a whole lot of nothing. If you aren't in the top five, the jockeys receive just a couple hundred dollars. Bummer.
The other races in the Triple Crown, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes offer purses of $1.5 million. The Preakness is on May 19th and Belmont Stakes is on June 8th.
The Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs and 160,000 people are expected to watch the race. The first Kentucky Derby was in 1875 and only 10,000 were in attendance.
The Kentucky Derby has always taken place at Churchill Downs making it the longest continuously held sports event in history.
The television broadcast is watched by about 19 million viewers. It's known as 'the fastest two minutes in sports.'
This year's Kentucky Derby coverage will start at 1:30 PM on NBC.
The Kentucky Derby is one of the biggest betting days of the year. Last year, $225.7 million was wagered on the horses around the country, which was up about 8% from the year before.
Omaha Beach was the horse favored to win this year, but had to pull out of the race due to injury.
You're all set. You know all you need to know about The Kentucky Derby. Now, all you need is a pastel outfit and a floppy hat, and you're good to go!