The 144th Kentucky Derby — the famous “Run for the Roses” — will take place May 5 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Considered the longest-running continuously held sporting event in the United States, the event is the first Triple Crown race of the season. (The Preakness Stakes is May 19, followed by Belmont Stakes on June 9.) Here are 30 numbers to know, including some figures from our friends at personal finance website WalletHub.
20: Number of 3-year-old horses in the race
$2 million: Amount of the purse
$1.425 million: Amount that goes to the winner
1.25 miles: Length of the race
6:34 p.m.: Post time (Eastern Standard Time)
6:46 p.m.: Time the race is expected to start (Eastern Standard Time)
2 minutes: Amount of time the race will last, earning the Kentucky Derby the nickname of “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”
1:59.40: Time of the fastest Kentucky Derby run, set by Secretariat in 1973
2:03.59: Time of 2017’s winner, Always Dreaming
5-to-1: Always Dreaming’s odds to win in 2017
4-to-1: Odds to win for early 2018 favorite, Bold d’Oro
143: Number of Derby winners over the past 143 years
12: Number of horses that have won the Triple Crown
554: Number of red roses included in the garland draped over the winning horse
127,000: Number of mint juleps expected to be served over the Kentucky Derby weekend
$209.2 million: Total amount wagered on all races for the 2017 Kentucky Derby, a new record
$194.3 million: The previous record, set in 2015
$184.90: Highest amount ever paid on a $2 bet, for Donerail to win in 1913
91-to-1: Odds for Donerail to win the Derby that year
$217 million: The estimated economic impact of the Kentucky Derby
$3 billion: Economic impact of Kentucky’s equine industry
55,000: Number of jobs the equine industry provides in the state
47: Kentucky’s ranking on WalletHub’s list of most gambling-addicted states
158,070: Attendance at the chilly and rainy 2017 Kentucky Derby
10,000: Estimated attendance at the first Kentucky Derby, in 1875
1925: Year the race made its radio broadcast debut
1952: Year the race made its national television debut
16.4 million: Number of television viewers in 2017, the fifth-most watched horse racing telecast since 1989
98,000: Number of viewers who streamed coverage on NBC Sports digital platforms
$200,000: Estimated value of the Kentucky Derby trophy, which includes an 18-Karat gold horse and rider, 350 rubies and 12 emeralds
And just in case you were thinking a race horse sounded like a good investment, your friends at WalletHub have one last statistic for you to keep in mind:
50: Pounds of waste produced by each horse, each day.
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