World’s Richest Horse Races Back in 1981 horse racing hit the headlines around the world when the Arlington Million became the first ever horse race with a prize purse of $1 million dollars. To put this million dollar prize into perspective, 1981 was the same year Shergar won the Epsom Derby and collected a winner’s purse of less than £150,000. The inaugural Arlington Million was won by the horse John Henry which repeated the feat again three years later in 1984. By the time John Henry had been retired his career earnings totalled over $6.5 million. Not bad for a horse that was sold for $1,100 as a yearling and again for $25,000 as a three-year-old. Over the years many different races around the world have held claim to being the World’s richest race and you can check out 888 horse racing betting on them here. Below is a list of the top horse races in 2020 The Saudi Cup The Saudi Cup, run for the first time in February 2020, goes straight to the top of the list at number 1 with an eye-watering prize purse of $20 million. The race is run on the dirt track at King Abdullaziz racecourse in Riyadh Suadi Arabia and this year’s race was won by the American trained horse Maximum Security. The Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup has been run annually in the United Arab Emirates since 1996. This 1m2f race run on the dirt track at Meydan racecourse has a prize pool of $12 million. The race is traditionally run at the end of March but due to the Coronavirus the 2020 race was cancelled. The Everest This is a sprint race run at Randwick racecourse in Sydney Australia with a prize pool of $10 million. The race was first run in 2017 and is the richest race run on Turf. The race is confined to 12 horses who’s owners each pay $600,000 to compete. The first two renewals of the race were won by Redzel. This year’s race is set to take place on October 17. Breeders’ Cup Classic The Breeders’ Cup Classic is another dirt race that forms part of the Breeders’ Cup weekend in America. The race itself will be worth $7 million in 2020 when the event takes place at Keeneland racecourse in Kentucky. The total prize money on offer over the two day’s racing is set to be $35 million this year. The event is scheduled for Friday the November 6 and Saturday November 7. The big race is on the second day. Pegasus World Cup The Pegasus World Cup run at Gulfstream Park in Florida was the richest race in the world in 2017 and 2018 with a $16 million prize purse the second year but in 2019 the prize was split between two races, The World Cup Invitational on dirt and the New World Cup Turf Invitational. In 2020 the Pegasus World Cup race was down to $3 million as the race structure has changed and there is now free entry for owners to run their horses whereas in 2018 there was a cost of $1 million. Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe This is the richest race run in Europe with a prize pool of €5 million euro or $5.4 million dollars. The race is run on the first Sunday in October at ParisLonchamp racecourse on the outskirts of Paris in France. This year the English trained Mare Enable will be attempting to become the first horse to win the race three times. She won the race in 2017 and 2018 but came up just short last year when finishing second to Waldgeist.
