The crowd of 155,804 braved heavy early morning rain and sporadic showers
throughout the day to see WinStar Farm LLC’s SUPER SAVER (Maria’s Mon) gallop to
a historic victory the 136th Kentucky Derby (G1). This year’s crowd exceeded
last year’s crowd of 153,563, despite the early inclement weather. Trainer Todd
Pletcher found the Derby win that had eluded him with his 24 prior Derby
entrants, and Calvin Borel repeated his 2009 Kentucky Derby win with a 2 1/2-
length margin over the full field of 19 rivals, his third victory in the last
four Kentucky Derbies.
Combined attendance for the 2010 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1) was
271,850, exceeding the 258,430 combined attendance of both events from last
year. The Kentucky Derby attendance figure marks the 10th time that Kentucky
Derby Day attendance has exceeded 150,000 fans.
Total wagering from all sources on the Kentucky Derby race, which includes
on-track and off-track wagers, was $112.7 million, a 7.8 percent increase from
the $104.6 million all-sources total in 2009. Total wagering from all sources on
the 13-race Kentucky Derby Day card at Churchill Downs was $162.7 million, an
increase of 4.3 percent from the $156.0 million wagered a year earlier.
Handle amounts for 2010 are preliminary and do not include separate pool
wagering in international markets such as Hong Kong, which simulcast the
Kentucky Derby for the first time. These totals are especially notable given
equipment failures at AmTote’s Oregon hub, which resulted in TwinSpires.com,
Arlington Park, Fair Grounds and many other wagering outlets experiencing lost
wagers and customer service issues.
“The Churchill Downs team congratulates all those involved with Super Saver
on his historic victory in this year’s 136th running of the Kentucky Derby
Presented by Yum! Brands,” Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery
said.
“After setting attendance and wagering records on Oaks Day, we can’t say
enough about Kentucky Derby fans who didn’t let the rain dampen their
enthusiasm. The Louisville community and the entire nation of Derby fans again
lent tremendous support for this great event. We were very pleased with the
level of wagering on the Oaks and Derby race cards and see the overwhelmingly
positive responses of our customers, both on- and off-track, as validation of
our efforts to present our product in new and innovative ways that can be
embraced by core and casual fans alike. We are sorry customers throughout the
country experienced difficulty placing wagers on the Kentucky Derby and the
undercard and we promise to get a full and complete accounting from AmTote of
the failures today.”
Churchill Downs’ partnership with CNBC through its ‘Call the Close’ $100,000
Derby DreamBet Sweepstakes gave winner Glen Fullerton the chance to place a
$100,000 win bet on the Kentucky Derby. Glen’s wager on Super Saver earned
him a life-changing payout of $900,000, while NBC’s coverage of his reaction as
Super Saver brought home the roses made for a truly great television moment.
Race fans generated a Pick 6 carryover pool of $947,640 and a Super Hi-5
carryover pool of $147,065. Churchill Downs will resume its spring meet on
Thursday, with post time at 12:45 p.m. (EDT).
Churchill Downs returned $133.1 million to bettors on the Kentucky Derby Day
race card, which amounts to approximately 82 percent of total wagering.
Super Saver’s win in Kentucky Derby 136 gave WinStar Farm its first Kentucky
Derby victory. Super Saver returned $18 on a $2 wager and completed the 1
1/4-mile distance in 2:04.45 over a sloppy track.