Kentucky Derby 2014 Payout: Examining Race Standings and Prize Money Earnings

Earning nearly $1.5 million for two minutes of work isn't a bad gig if you can get it.

California Chrome earned a pretty penny for his owners Saturday evening with a win in the 2014 Kentucky Derby. Eric Crawford of WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky, reported that the colt took home $1,417,800 of the final purse:

You can view the full race results and payouts below:

Pos.	Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths	Purse
1	5	California Chrome	Victor Espinoza	Art Sherman	-	$1,417,800
2	17	Commanding Curve	Shaun Bridgmohan	Dallas Stewart	1 3/4	$400,000
3	4	Danza	Joe Bravo	Todd Pletcher	3	$200,000
4	20	Wicked Strong	Rajiv Maragh	Jimmy Jerkens	5 3/4	$100,000
5	6	Samraat	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	5 3/4	$60,000
6	12	Dance With Fate	Corey Nakatani	Peter Eurton	6 1/4	---
7	19	Ride On Curlin	Calvin Borel	Billy Gowan	6 3/4	---
8	14	Medal Count	Robby Albarado	Dale Romans	7 1/2	---
9	13	Chitu	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	8	---
10	7	We Miss Artie	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	8 1/4	---
11	8	General A Rod	Joel Rosario	Mike Maker	8 1/4	---
12	16	Intense Holiday	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	9	---
13	18	Candy Boy	Gary Stevens	John Sadler	11 3/4	---
14	3	Uncle Sigh	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Gary Contessa	15	---
15	15	Tapiture	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	16 1/4	---
16	2	Harry's Holiday	Corey Lanerie	Mike Maker	22 1/2	---
17	9	Vinceremos	Joe Rococo Jr.	Todd Pletcher	28	---
18	10	Wildcat Red	Luis Saez	Jose Garoffalo	28 1/4	---
19	1	Vicar's In Trouble	Rosie Napravnik	Mike Maker	38 1/4	---

The biggest surprise of the day was Commanding Curve finishing second. According to OddsShark.com, he came into the day at 50/1 odds to win, so few could've foreseen his success. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan thinks that the Derby finish is only a sign of things to come rather than a crowning accomplishment.

"He obviously showed what he is capable of, and his best days are ahead of him," Bridgmohan said, per Jennie Rees of The Courier-Journal.

He leaves Churchill Downs having already made owners West Point Thoroughbreds $400,000 richer, so any sort of payout from here on is a cherry on top.

The biggest lesson from Commanding Curve's performance is that owners looking for the most bang for the buck should bring in trainer Dallas Stewart. For the second year in a row, the trainer got the most out of what looked like a mere long shot. Few regarded Golden Soul as any sort of contender for the 2013 Kentucky Derby, but he ended up runner-up to Orb:

Danza, Wicked Strong and Samraat rounded out the big-money winners, taking home $200,000, $100,000 and $60,000 respectively.

But this day was, of course, all about California Chrome. He and jockey Victor Espinoza ran a great race. Plenty of horses before have crumbled under the weight of expectations, but that wasn't the case for the Derby favorite.

The colt was one of the horses to set the pace in the early going and then fell back to a comfortable speed in behind Uncle Sigh and Chitu. On the final turn, Espinoza and California Chrome made their move for the lead, and nobody could catch them.

Espinoza even had some time near the finish line to slow up and truly take in the moment.

For Steve and Carolyn Coburn, who are part owners of the Derby winner, the victory was, of course, a huge money-maker. But Carolyn felt that the win meant so much more.

"To so many people, a horse is a business, but we've grown attached to him," she said, per USA Today's Adam Himmelsbach. "He's a part of our family. I know at some point in time, maybe you have to get over that. But we saw him when he was a day old. We watched him grow."

The financial gain was still pretty sweet, though, especially considering that the DAP stable that owned California Chrome reportedly turned down $6 million for a 51 percent stake, per ESPN's Darren Rovell:

Sometimes it's more prudent to play the long game instead of opting for the short-term payoff.

Now, California Chrome's focus will shift to the Preakness Stakes, where he'll look to continue his push to be the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to complete the Triple Crown.

That would be priceless.