The Kentucky Derby on May 7 generated the largest wagering handle in the 148-year history of the storied event, logging a total of $179 million bet, which was 8 percent higher than the previous record set in 2019, according to statistics released by Churchill Downs.
However, the fact that the race was won by the biggest longshot in the field, Rich Strike at 80-to-1, did not hurt the nation’s bookmakers as much as one might think, since only $501,135 of the total amount wagered on the win pool was on Rich Strike, the lowest of any horse in the field.
Rich Strike was an even bigger long shot in Nevada, where odds reached as high as 300-to-1 in March. But bookmakers there reported similar small losses due to the longshot win.
“People love the longest shots on the board, so we took a lot of little bets (on Rich Strike), $25, $50, here and there,” Paul Zilm, a risk supervisor who oversees horse racing offerings at Circa in Downtown Las Vegas, told ESPN. “It turned it into a small loss for us.”
