20 horses in the field and $50K per entry so $1M from the entries covers the winner's spoils. The organizers pay for $2M out of their pocket front the rest of the field.

A few years ago ASO was paying out $4M of prize money from the TDF and in the same year (I cannot remember which one) Ironman actually paid out $4.2M from its entire series.

I was surprised at how low the race win prize was at the Kentucky Derby but I understand this is not the main financial upside. Now the value of the horse is for breeding purposes.

Nevertheless prize money seemed low. At least this is what the announcers shared.