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Kentucky Derby Purse Raised By Churchill Downs To Record $5 Million, 50-Race Stakes Schedule Cumulatively Worth $25.6 Million

The 150th GI Kentucky Derby scheduled for Saturday, May 4 will be the richest in history as the purse for America's greatest race has been elevated to a guaranteed $5 million, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) said in a release Wednesday.

The $2 million increase to the race highlights a record-setting, 50-race stakes schedule cumulatively worth $25.6 million for Churchill Downs' 2024 Spring Meet, which will be run over 43 dates from April 27-June 30/

The Derby purse structure was the subject of a Chris McGrath TDN interview with John Sikura, where he questioned the $3 million purse. The cause was later taken up by Mike Repole.

Prize money for the stakes schedule increased 25% or $5.1 million from last year's $20.5 million lineup which is due to historical horse racing. Prior to the debut of historical horse racing at CDI's Derby City Gaming in September 2018, that year's Spring Meet featured 32 stakes races worth $8.8 million. There are now 18 additional Spring Meet stakes, and prize money for horsemen in those events has grown 190% or by $16.8 million.

“These record purse increases are a symbol of the health of horse racing in Kentucky,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated. “Churchill Downs Incorporated's over $1 billion investment into live and historical horse racing in Kentucky over the last five years has meaningfully strengthened the entire Kentucky Derby Week and year-round racing program. It's important to acknowledge the state legislature for its commitment to working closely with private enterprise in a truly collaborative partnership to support the continued growth of Kentucky's signature industry.”

Thirty-eight of the 2024 Spring Meet stakes races received significant purse hikes, including $250,000 boosts to each of the following: the $1.5 million GI Kentucky Oaks; $1 million GI La Troienne S.; $1 million GI Churchill Downs S.; $1 million GI Derby City Distaff; and $750,000 GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. Each of the track's seven Grade I events, including the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. and Stephen Foster S., feature a minimum $1 million purse.

With a record $5 million in prize money now guaranteed for the Kentucky Derby, the winner will receive the event's highly sought-after gold trophy, a $3.1 million payday and possibly millions more as a stallion after retirement from racing. Also, $1 million will be awarded to the runner-up, $500,000 to third, $250,000 to fourth and $150,000 to fifth.

Previously, the Kentucky Derby purse had been worth $3 million since 2019, and was $2 million from 2005-18 and $1 million from 1996-2004.

“It is truly gratifying to view the steady growth of the Churchill Downs racing product and the entire Kentucky horse racing and breeding industry, which bettors around the world have embraced,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson. “Through the purses generated by the racing association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, Kentucky horsemen and horsewomen are reaping the benefits of Churchill Downs Incorporated's historic investment as we celebrate this year's milestone 150th Kentucky Derby.”

Pretty Mischievous | Horsephotos

At $1.5 million, the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks–the Derby's sister race staged one day prior on Friday, May 3–remains the nation's most lucrative race for 3-year-old fillies. It had been worth $1.25 million since 2019, and was $1 million from 2011-18 and $500,000 from 1996-2010.

All told, there will be a record 22 stakes races cumulatively worth $17.5 million staged over Kentucky Derby Week (April 27-May 7), including nine stakes totaling $10.8 million on Derby Day and seven totaling $5.3 million on Oaks Day.

Four races on Kentucky Derby Week will offer horses an entry and travel incentive to run in some of Europe's most prestigious races. The winner of the Old Forester Turf Classic will receive a berth to either the one-mile G1 Queen Anne S. or the 1 1/4-mile G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot in mid-June. Earlier on the Kentucky Derby Day program, the winner of the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint will receive an entry to the G1 King's Charles III S. (formerly known as the King's Stand), also staged at Royal Ascot.

Three-year-old turf specialists in the GII American Turf and GII Edgewood S. can receive their entry to either the G1 Betfred Derby or G1 Betfred Oaks at Epsom Downs. The winner of the American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day will receive an entry and travel stipend to compete in the Betfred Derby while the winner of the Edgewood on Kentucky Oaks Day will receive the same benefits for the Betfred Oaks.

The first condition book of scheduled races is being finalized by Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman and is expected to be published in late January. More than $57 million in total prize money is expected to be offered during this year's Spring Meet (pending Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund final approval). Purses for maiden races will be $120,000 while allowance races will range from $127,000 to $141,000.

Spring Meet stall applications are due Friday, Mar. 1. Following its annual closure for wintertime renovations, the Churchill Downs stable area will reopen Tuesday, Mar. 19. The first day of training on the main dirt track will be Friday, Mar. 22.

For the second consecutive year, Churchill Downs Incorporated's nearby Trackside Louisville, which accommodates more than 500 horses, has remained open year-round for wintertime stabling and training for racing at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

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Ben Huffman Named Recipient Of Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman Of The Year Award

Ben Huffman, Vice President of Racing for Churchill Downs Racetrack and Racing Secretary at Keeneland Race Course, is the 2022 recipient of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners' Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year Award. He will be honored at the Louisville-based KTO's 34th annual awards gala Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Kentucky Derby Museum. The award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to Kentucky racing.

“It is incredibly special and humbling to be honored with this prestigious award that honors a horseman I greatly admired,” Huffman said.

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MSW Purses Set for CD, Ellis & Ky Downs

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit have been established for the upcoming meets at Churchill Downs ($120,000 in the first condition book), Ellis Park ($50,000 through July and August) and Kentucky Downs ($150,000 for seven days in September).

Those figures were revealed by representatives of those tracks Tuesday during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee.

Ben Huffman, the vice president of racing and racing secretary at Churchill Downs, also confirmed that the newly installed turf course in Louisville is ready for racing.

“We're still on target for opening the turf course opening night [Apr. 30],” Huffman said. “The turf course is looking good. We certainly want it to warm up here a little quicker. We've had our consultants out there all winter. They were out there about a week, 10 days ago, and everything so far looks great. The root system's great. So we're on schedule as of right now.”

The $120,000 figure for Churchill's first-book MSW races through May 15 is an uptick over 2021's MSW purses, which were $115,000 during Derby week, then $100,000 for the balance of the spring/summer meet.

The $50,000 Ellis projection is a slight dip from $51,000 last year.

Kentucky Downs is adding one race date this season, up from six in 2021. MSW purses for the all-turf meet have risen from $90,000 in 2020 and $135,000 last year.

When Ted Nicholson, the senior vice president and general manager at Kentucky Downs, disclosed the $150,000 figure for this year's meet, Bill Landes III, the chairman of the KTDF, reacted with mock astonishment at such a high figure by asking if that figure was actually in United States dollars.

“Do you have a grass horse?” Nicholson deadpanned in response.

When Kentucky racing shifts back to Turfway Park next December, horsemen can expect not only the completion of the racino's new clubhouse/grandstand (scheduled to open to the public Sept. 1), but five new barns, a new two-story dormitory, and a new post-race testing barn in the stable area.

Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, said the new dormitory will be “very similar to what they have at Churchill Downs” and it will be “a thousand percent better for our horsemen who live on the grounds…. Our goal is to have them ready before we open the barn area in November.”

Quipped Landes: “From what I hear, you'll have no problems filling them next year.”

An Ellis Park turf widening project has been stalled by wet weather, but surveying is set to begin once the infield dries out, an Ellis representative told the KTDF.

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Letter To The Editor: John Good

An open letter to Ben Huffman, Chris Polzin, Dan Bork, and Tyler Picklesimer, racing secretaries at CD & KEE, IND, ELP and KD, respectively–

The Thoroughbred racing industry continues to demonstrate its willingness to embrace technology, innovation and transparency for the long-term good of the sport. Our recent flagship events and race meets have been a credit to the sport– a phenomenal product showcasing the equine and human stars and stories, and generating record handle. There is national TV exposure that we could have once only dreamed of. History will look kindly on those who had the resolve to pursue HISA, and 2022 promises to usher in a new era that will finally standardize regulations and practices within the sport. The much-needed increase in purse money in Kentucky and elsewhere has helped create a more viable environment for owners and trainers, and is finally offsetting years of stagnation in purses, while the costs of raising and training Thoroughbreds appreciated unabated.

Moments like these can also be opportunities to re-evaluate business models and think outside the box. A bold proposal would be to double the claiming price of every race when the condition books are written for Keeneland, Churchill and Indiana Grand next spring. With the current purse structure, the horses should be worth more. The horses are worth more. This explains the absolute claiming frenzy of today–sometimes dozens of claims in for a single horse–resulting in millions of dollars each racing week going unspent. This presents an opportunity to impact the economic outlook of buying at the yearling and 2-year-old-in-training sales. Of course, anytime you buy an unraced youngster at an auction, you're trying to buy a classic contender, and the dream is always alive until proven otherwise. But if an increase in claiming prices, one that appreciated in tandem with increased purses (double), supported the idea that “my thirty-grand claimer would now be a sixty-grand claimer”, that would have a dramatic effect on the mentality of buyers at auction, serving as an incentive to have more would-be claiming owners participate in auctions. It would be the ultimate shot in the arm for that precarious “middle market,” and could impact the economics of breeding and raising Thoroughbreds for a generation to come.

How to implement? The condition could read something like: Claiming Price $50,000. For horses that have not started for more than $25,000 in their last 2 starts (races where entered in Kentucky or Indiana since April 8, 2022 not considered). This would imply that once the horse had started twice under the new structure, the connections would be free to enter for any price. Upper-echelon claimers could be raised by a declining percentage scale if deemed appropriate. If this continued through the fall, it would achieve a significant rebalancing of value in the Thoroughbreds racing in Kentucky and Indiana, and galvanize other circuits to reciprocate.

As a fringe benefit, we'd also achieve a more palatable ratio of equine value to available purse money, removing a potential focal point from those who will use any hint of prosperity within the sport as propaganda to further their cause of seeking the demise of the whole industry.

If we don't do it now, when do we do it? When does the baseline value of the horse, so easily definable once he is racing, appreciate in value to reflect his earning potential? Is a $30,000 horse still a $30,000 horse in 2045, as he was in 1997? If so, how does the early development of these Thoroughbreds remain feasible, given the inflation experienced with the associated costs?

John Good is a former trainer on the Kentucky circuit, who served prior to that as a longtime assistant to Bob Baffert and also worked under legendary Irish trainer Dermot Weld. Good transitioned away from Thoroughbreds in 2015, but remains an avid fan of racing

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