How Much Does It Pay To Win The Kentucky Derby?
What was the total amount of money that Rich Strike won at the Kentucky Derby in 2022? As the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike was awarded $1,860,000.00 of the total prize pool of $3,000,000.00. Rich Strike had only earned a total of $111,289 in his career prior to winning the first leg of the Triple Crown.
- Not bad for a horse who just qualified for the Derby the day before when Ethereal Road was forced to withdraw, and who was claimed by owner Rick Dawson of RED TR-Racing following a $30,000 maiden-claiming event at Churchill Downs.
- Rich Strike: At the 2022 Kentucky Derby, owner Rick Dawson was successful with his wagers on Eric Reed and Rich Strike.
“On what planet are we now?” Dawson spoke on his performance after the race on Saturday. “I feel like I have been catapulted someplace. I’m not sure. This defies all logic and reason. I went up on stage and spoke to my coach, and I asked him, “Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” Because there is no way that could be true.’ He gave me his word that everything is genuine.
How much does the winning jockey get for the Kentucky Derby?
Image courtesy of Don Blais / Shutterstock.com. The three legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes, all take place in the months of May and June in the United States. These are the most prominent months for horse racing in the country.
Rich payouts are a hallmark of the world’s most prestigious horse races, such as the Kentucky Derby (2022), which offered a total pot of $3 million and awarded the winner $1.86 million of that total. The rider, or jockey, is the person who stays atop the horse during the whole race and receives far less attention than the horse itself.
Kentucky man wins placing long-shot bet on Rich Strike
At the Kentucky Derby, the winning jockey receives 10% of the total payout won by their horse. This year’s winning rider, Sonny Leon, received $186,000 of the total purse. It is possible that Leon sent a commission of 25 percent to his agent and a gratuity of 5 percent to the valet who assisted him in preparing his gear for the race from those gains. 
What was the biggest payout Kentucky Derby 2022?
Images obtained from Getty The betting handle for the 2022 Kentucky Derby was the biggest it has ever been for any of the three races that make up the Triple Crown. A record amount of $179 million was placed in the pari-mutuel pool on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, according to ESPN.
This is a significant increase of 17 percent in comparison to the track’s 2021 returns. The total amount of money handled, $179 million, was also eight percent more than the previous record, which had been achieved in 2019. However, in a tragic turn of events for the gamblers, not a lot of money was bet on the horse that ended up winning.
Only $501,135 of the massive total of $179 million was bet on Rich Strike, who triumphed as an extremely improbable underdog to win the first leg of the Triple Crown. Rich Strike was given odds of 80-1. In the illustrious history of the race, Rich Strike’s victory against the odds-on favorites Epicenter and Zandon in the final few seconds was the second-largest upset in terms of the margin of victory.
- A late scratch on Friday allowed the horse to be entered into the Kentucky Derby field, despite the fact that the animal wasn’t even intended to be in the race to begin with.
- Since Donerail in 1913, Rich Strike is the underdog that has the most potential to win the race.
- The fact that this year’s Kentucky Derby was, for the first time since 2019, a “regular” Derby helped contribute to the significant rise in the total amount of money that was wagered on the event.
As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the previous two races had to contend with far fewer spectators than normal, and the Kentucky Derby had to be held on a different day than it often is. The Kentucky Derby in 2022, which marked a return to the norm, will be remembered for more than one reason when it is written down in the annals of history.