The Most Expensive Horse Races

Since ancient times, horse racing has been a popular entertainment among the aristocrats and the rich. The scale of money turnover in this area is sometimes striking. This applies to entry fees for participation in some competitions, and the prize fund. You will be greatly surprised, but UK horse racing today is not the most expensive. Here are the most costly horse races in the world.

Pegasus World Cup

The title of the most expensive race in the world since 2017 belongs to the competition Pegasus World Cup, which is the embodiment of American wastefulness. The total length of the track is 9 furlongs, which corresponds to 1.8 km. The race is held at a racetrack called Gulfstream Park, Florida. Only very experienced horses aged at least four years are allowed to take part in this popular competition.

In 2018, the prize fund was 16 million dollars, 7 of which received the winner of the competition. They became a thoroughbred riding horse named Gun Runner. A total of 12 horses participated in the races, the entry fee for one place in the race was 1 million dollars. As you see, this sum is surely not for beginners in racing.

In 2020, the competition was no less spectacular. Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man), starting with two years, showed good results. So, he came second in Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (G1). Mucho Gusto was at the auction four times, and its value varied from 14,000 to 625,000 dollars.

Recently, he was invited to the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. New races will get 7 million, and for the first horse, the owner will receive 3 million. The entry fee will be 500 thousand dollars. Yet, if one horse wins in both events, its owner will get 1 million back. All in all, this sum will cover his expenses.

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Dubai World Cup

Since the previous championship, the Pegasus World Cup, was essentially divided into two separate events, The Dubai World Cup will be able to regain its status as the most expensive race. The competition has been held annually since 1996 in the UAE at the Meydan Racecourse.

It was ideologized and arranged by the leader of the Arab world Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

This man owns the Darley Stud  horse factory, the largest one in the world. Sheikh’s dream was to see Dubai on the map of world elite races. In recent decades, Al Maktoum has become the most influential owner in the world community of horse racing. Thus, all lovers of this sports activity know him.

Races are traditionally held on the last Saturday of March. On the day of the final races, the biggest prizes are raffled. In the first race, there are only Arabian horses, in the other races, there are horses of other breeds.

The Dubai World Cup has a prize fund of 26,250,000 dollars and is the largest in the world. The main prize is 10 million dollars.

The whole world elite of equestrian sport comes here to open a new racing season. Besides, the winners of the Dubai World Cup, as a rule, become prize winners in the following competitions in other countries.

In 2018, the Thunder Snow horse won, setting a new record for races on the dirt track. She was trained in Godolphin stable, a personal stable of the UAE Emir Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, this victory is the seventh one. The length of the track is 10 furlongs, which is 2 km. Horses older than four years from the northern hemisphere and older than three from the southern hemisphere are allowed to participate.

The Everest

The Everest is the most luxurious grass race in Australia. 1.2 km long track is located at the Royal Randwick racetrack in Sydney, where the best running horses from around the world come together. The Everest has only been around for a few years, but that time was enough to get around the previous record holder and the most expensive race in Australia, the Melbourne Cup. In 2017 and 2018, the winner was the Australian thoroughbred Redzel horse.

Breeders’ Cup Classic

Another event in the United States, but this time in the sprint category. This is the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Competitions have been held since 1984. Each time arrangers choose a new location. In all these years, the only time the races were outside the U.S. in Ontario, Canada in 1996. Only thoroughbred horses older than three years are allowed to take part. The winner receives half of the prize fund of 6 million dollars.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is tacitly considered to be the fourth stage of the Triple Crown, a set of the most prestigious races on three-year-old purebred horses. In 2018, the first distance of 2 km was overcome by a horse named Accelerate.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

All the elite gathers once a year at the richest races of the continent Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Horses must overcome 2.4 km. The owner of the fastest and most enduring of them will receive 3.2 million dollars of the total prize fund of 5.6 million. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe race has been held at the Longchamp Hippodrome in Paris for 150 years, except for 2016 and 2017, when the racetrack was restored. Then the race took the famous racetrack of the residence of Chantilly located near Paris.

Japan Cup

The most expensive race in Japan, the Japan Cup, is held annually at the Tokyo Racecourse. The competition involves thoroughbred horses older than three years old. This event is available only by individual invitation, 18 horses compete with each other at a distance of 2.4 km. The prize fund is 5.8 million dollars.

For many years, Japan has been importing thoroughbred horses from abroad for race and breeding purposes and to improve local breeds of horses. Japan has also done a lot to recognize it as one of the leading horse racing nations in the world. Japanese horses have been appreciated all over the world.