Horse racing is often referred to as “The Sport of Kings,” creating the impression that only those with incredible wealth can participate … and it is, no doubt, very expensive to own a horse much less a racehorse. But the reality is you don’t need to be a monarch or a Sheikh or a titan of industry to own a Kentucky Derby starter, or winner for that matter.

While it helps to have oodles of cash to spread around at Thoroughbred auctions to land a quality racehorse, Derby history tells us that the pricier prospects are not always better. In fact, big-ticket auction racehorses have not typically navigated their way to the winner’s circle on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

According to the Kentucky Derby media guide, 33 Kentucky Derby winners since 1960 sold at auction (four of them sold twice, so 37 auction results total) before winning the race for an average price of $237,754. That number is a bit inflated by one horse, 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, who sold for $4 million. The $40,000 median is actually far more representative as 22 times the Derby winner changed hands at auction for $70,000 or less, including 11 different Kentucky Derby winners bought for 20 grand or less.

See the auction results below from 1971 Derby winner Canonero II ($1,200) to “FuPeg” at a cool $4 million, featuring some monumental bargains … we’re looking at you Seattle Slew ($17,500), Sunday Silence ($32,000), and Spectacular Bid ($37,000).

Likewise, the racehorses who sold for a noteworthy sum at auction and excel on the racetrack to the point of making it into the starting gate on Derby day have not historically performed well in the first jewel of the Triple Crown.

Of the 30 all-time most expensive 3-year-olds to start in the Kentucky Derby (see table below), only Fusaichi Pegasus won. Lion Heart (a $1.4 million purchase) ran second to Smarty Jones in 2004 and Good Magic ($1 million) finished second to Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018. Nineteen of the 30 listed below finished 10^th or worse in their respective Kentucky Derby.

It may be called “The Sport of Kings” but it’s often the pauper who becomes the prince as the saying goes under the Twin Spires on the first Saturday in May.

Seattle Slew, a $17,500 auction purchase, winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby. (BloodHorse Library)