The historic 150th running of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 3 saw record wagering in spite of intermittent showers at Churchill Downs as Thorpedo Anna splashed her way to win the lilies wire to wire.
Rains in the morning and throughout the day led to an early turf race being run on the dirt.
Wagering from all sources on the full Oaks Day race card reached a record $75.3 million, up 0.5% from last year's record $74.9 million.
All-sources wagering on this year's $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks fell 3.1% to $21.7 million compared to last year's $22.4 million. The record is $24.3 million set in 2022.
"Congratulations to the connections of Thorpedo Anna on today's win," Churchill Downs track president Mike Anderson said in a statement. "The 150th Kentucky Oaks will be remembered as a historic day as we celebrate our deep-rooted traditions with our fans, sponsors, horsemen, and horseplayers."
The crowd of 107,236 increased 0.8% from last year's 106,381. The record set in 2016 is 124,589.
In early wagering for the Kentucky Derby (G1) through 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, Fierceness is the favorite at 3-1, followed by Sierra Leone at 9-2.
Fierceness Favored in Derby Betting After Oaks Day
TwinSpires.com as of 7:12 p.m. ET showed $4,024,803 in the win pool, $957,890 in the place pool, and $913,168 in the show pool, for a collective total of nearly $5.9 million, about $3 million ahead of the same point last year. That's a fraction of the percentage of the money that will ultimately be in each of those pools that drew $89.2 million last year. The Oaks-Derby Double had $3 million bet compared to $2.9 million last year.
