When a horse wins a prestigious race, all it gets for its efforts is a pat on the hind quarters, a hose down and maybe a mint or a carrot or two.
These majestic animals are completely unaware of the riches they have bestowed upon their owners, who in some cases can enjoy life-changing sums of prize money courtesy of their horses’ success on the track.
In that spirit, here are five races held around the world that earn the winning connections $100,000 or more in prize money.
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Festival is a four-day meeting held in the UK each March.
There are 28 races in all, but there’s no doubt that the Cheltenham ante-post betting market focuses on the most prestigious renewal of them all – the Gold Cup. Some of the greatest horses in history, from Golden Miller to Best Mate, have won this race and in 2024, Galopin Des Champs (the -200 favorite) has a chance to join an exclusive club as a back-to-back champion.
The Cheltenham Festival results confirm this to be the richest prize at the meeting too, with a total fund of around $500,000 to battle it out for – with the winner clinching a cool $278,000 for their connections.
Saudi Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is so sought-after amongst the UK and Irish contingent because of its long history and prestige, as much as the prize money on offer.
But you’d have to say that the opposite is true when it comes to the Saudi Cup, which was only inaugurated in 2020 but has since taken on the tag of the world’s richest horse race.
As part of its program to bring more elite-level sport to the country, the Saudi aristocracy promise a $20 million purse for the 1,800 meter race – with $10 million guaranteed to the winner.
Nice work if you can get it!
The Everest
The richest prize in Australian racing is The Everest, a flat race established in 2017 that has a pool of $20 million to compete for.
The winner takes home a cool $7 million for their efforts, although it should be said that much of the prize kitty is generated by entry fees – each owner must stump up $700,000 in order to secure a place in the stalls for one of their horses.
The Dubai World Cup
They love their horse racing in the United Arab Emirates, so it’s perhaps fitting that the country plays host to one of the sport’s richest prizes.
The Dubai World Cup has been around since 1996, pitting some of the fastest horses from around the globe against one another over ten furlongs.
The total prize fund for the Dubai World Cup has been increased to $12 million, with the champion taking home $7.2 million.
The Golden Eagle
Another prestigious race over in Australia, the Golden Eagle is different in that 10% of the total prize fund is donated to the charity of the winner’s choosing.
Even so, that leaves a still handsome $9 million bounty to be won at the famous Rosehill Racecourse, with the winner pocketing $5.25 million.
So, if you’ve ever had an ambition of getting into horse racing, these are the races that you really want to be targeting!