Kentucky Derby purse, payout, finishing positions: Prize money at Churchill Downs

There's nothing in sports and certainly not in horse racing quite like the Kentucky Derby. And the 2024 Kentucky Derby is set to be an unforgettable one as it's not just the annual kickoff to the Triple Crown when they are at Churchill Downs in Louisville. This is also the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, which makes it a historic occasion.

And for a historic occasion, you know that the atmosphere and the spectacle are going to be next level. Frankly, it always is at Churchill Downs, but it's turned up even more so for the 2024 Kentucky Derby with how important this race is in the annuls of history.

Even better, though, that's all reflected when it comes to the 2024 Kentucky Derby purse and prize money on the line. Just how much money are these thoroughbreds racing for, though? We have it all broken down for you.

Kentucky Derby purse 2024: Total purse, winner's share

The 2024 Kentucky Derby purse will be a record-setting $5 million, the highest ever for this race. In fact, the winner's share of the purse will be a whopping $3.1 million on Saturday at Churchill Downs, which is $100,000 more than the entire purse for the race in 2023, which was set at $3 million. For the historic and momentous race this year, the money on the line has never been anywhwere remotely close to this, which is awesome to see.

Kentucky Derby purse 2024: Payout, prize money for finishing position

Here is the prize money on the line at the 2024 Kentucky Derby by finishing position for the top finishers in the Run for the Roses.

All of these payouts for the race are historic numbers in terms of prize money. That starts at the top with the $3.1 million prize on the line for the winner, but the runner-up getting into seven figures and all of the Top 5 being well over six figures also.

Kentucky Derby prize money: How much do jockeys and trainers take home?

Obviously, the owners of the horses are going to take home the majority of the prize money won at the Kentucky Derby. However, there is also the question of how much the jockeys and trainers get paid for their work with the horses. Though there isn't a set in stone amount, jockeys typically take home 10% of the prize money won by their horse, so the winning jockey would get $310,000 based on that amount. As for the trainers, they also typically receive 10% of the payout as well.