The Superfecta is an exotic bet and one of horse racing’s most difficult but potentially lucrative wagers.
Bettors need to correctly predict the first four finishers in exact order. Superfectas are available for this year’s Kentucky Derby, which runs on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
Superfecta bets can produce massive payouts, and you can bet as little as 10 cents or $1.
What Did the Kentucky Derby Superfecta Pay Out Last Year?
Let’s use the finishing results from the 2025 Kentucky Derby to see how the Superfecta works.
Sovereignty (18), Journalism (8), Baeza (21), and Final Gambit (3) finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively. The $1 Superfecta on 18-8-21-3 paid out $1,682.27.
It’s incredibly difficult to correctly predict the first four finishers in precise order on a straight bet like that, but there are other ways to make Superfecta wagers.
Different Types of Superfecta Bets
Here are variations on how to make Superfecta bets.
Superfecta Box
The Superfecta box bet allows you to wager on the first four finishers without needing the exact order of finish.
Think of “boxing” four horses as a form of insurance that covers every possible winning combination. Using four horses, there are 24 different winning combinations. Thus, your $1 Superfecta box bet will cost $24.
Obviously, the more horses you use, the more expensive the wager becomes.
Superfecta Full Wheel
If you’re confident about the race winner but unsure who will finish in the next three spots, make a Superfecta full wheel bet. Your goal is to cover every possible Superfecta combination after the winner.
Let’s say there are six horses in the race. In that case, your bet will cost $60. The bet gets more expensive with additional horses in the field.
Superfecta Part Wheel
Make the Superfecta part wheel bet by placing the winner on top of horses that will finish 2-3-4. The difference here is that you’re not including all the other horses entered, but rather three specific horses.
If you bet the No. 2 to win on top of No. 8, No. 5, and No. 10, there are 24 different winning combinations. This wager will cost you $24.
Superfecta Key
The Superfecta key bet allows you to bet on a “key” horse to win the race. Then you can use a combination of three or more horses underneath to finish second, third, and fourth.
For example, you pick the No. 3 horse to win on top of the, let’s say, No. 7, No. 10, and No. 18.
You’d cash your ticket if your key horse wins and the other horses finish second, third, and fourth.
Kentucky Derby’s Biggest Superfecta Payouts
As mentioned, Superfectas can result in large payouts. When Rich Strike won the 2022 Kentucky Derby as an 80-1 longshot, the $1 Superfecta returned $321,500.10.
- 1st: Rich Strike (80-1)
- 2nd: Epicenter (4-1)
- 3rd: Zandon (6-1)
- 4th: Simplification (35-1)
The payout varies based on the odds of horses finishing first through fourth and the number of winning tickets. In this case, Rich Strike was the biggest longshot to win the Kentucky Derby outside of Donerail in 1913. Simplification, hitting the board at 35-1, also helped increase this payout.
The largest Superfecta payout in the history of the Kentucky Derby? That came in 2005 when Giacomo, Closing Argument, Afleet Alex, and Don’t Get Mad finished first through fourth, paying out $864,253.00 on a $1 Superfecta.
