Takeout is the share of every betting pool a racetrack keeps before it pays the winners. At the tracks that publish it, it is 16% to 18% on win, place and show bets and 18.5% to 26% on exactas, trifectas and superfectas; a few multi-race bets are cheaper, at 12% to 15%. It comes off the top before any ticket is paid, whoever wins.

The table below gives each rate as the track's own wagering page states it, read on 1 October 2026. Only tracks that publish their takeout are listed; a track whose rates we could not read on its own site is left out rather than filled in from a news report.

What takeout does to a pool

A $100,000 win pool at Churchill Downs

Win, place and show takeout at Churchill Downs is 17.5% (event information page). Say $100,000 is bet to win on a race.

Total bet to win$100,000
Takeout, 17.5%$17,500
Left to pay winning tickets$82,500
Returned per $1 bet, across everyoneabout $0.83

Whoever holds the winning tickets shares $82,500, so the crowd as a whole gets back about 83 cents of each dollar. On a 26% trifecta pool the same $100,000 leaves $74,000. That is why the average bettor loses over time: the pool shrinks before anyone is paid, and the shrinking is bigger on the exotic bets. Breakage, the rounding of payouts down to the dime or penny, takes a little more and is not in these figures.

Takeout by track, 2026

Takeout rates by track and bet type (as of 1 October 2026)

9 rows
TrackStateWin, place, showExactaDaily doubleTrifectaSuperfectaPick 3 to pick 6OtherAs ofSource
Churchill DownsKentucky17.5%22%22%22%22%22% pick 3 and pick 4; 15% pick 5, Late Pick 3 and Derby City-6Jackpot 8 22%; Odd/Even 17.5%September and Fall Meets 2026source
KeenelandKentucky16% (show 10% on track at Keeneland and Red Mile)19.5%15%22%22%22% pick 3, pick 4 and pick 6; 15% pick 5, Turf Pick 3 and Late Pick 3Super High 5 22%Fall Meet 2026source
NYRA: Belmont Park and SaratogaNew York16%18.5% (quinella too)18.5%24%24%24% pick 3 and pick 4; 15% pick 5 and pick 6 (24% pick 6 on carryover days)Grand Slam 24%Read 1 Oct 2026source
Gulfstream ParkFlorida17%20%20% (Players Late Double 15%)26%26%20% pick 3, pick 4 and pick 6; 15% pick 5s, Players Late Pick 3 and Tropical Turf Pick 3Hi-5 18%; Sunset 6 and Coast-To-Coast Pick 5 15%Read 1 Oct 2026source
OaklawnArkansas17% (show 10% on track)21%21% (Late Double 15%)21%21%21% pick 3, pick 4, pick 5 and Classix Pick 6; 15% Get Out Pick 32025-26 meet wagering menusource
Parx RacingPennsylvania17%20%20%25%25%25% pick 3 and pick 4; 15% Philly Big 5Read 1 Oct 2026source
Delaware ParkDelaware17%19%19%25%25%25% pick 3 and pick 4; 15% pick 52026 meetsource
Colonial DownsVirginia18%22%22%22%22%22% pick 3 and pick 4; 12% pick 5; 15% pick 6Read 1 Oct 2026source
Monmouth ParkNew Jersey15%15% pick 3The track page gives only this 2026 change: every daily double and pick 3 at 15%2026 meetsource

Each row is from the track's own page, linked. Monmouth Park's page gives only its 2026 change to 15% on every double and pick 3, so its other cells are blank. Not listed because their own pages did not state rates we could read: Kentucky Downs, Santa Anita, Del Mar, Tampa Bay Downs and Laurel Park. A track can change takeout between meets; check its wagering page before you rely on a figure.

Free to reuse with credit and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).

What the table shows

Win, place and show are the cheapest common bets. Every track here keeps 16% to 18% of those pools: NYRA and Keeneland 16%, Gulfstream, Oaklawn, Parx and Delaware Park 17%, Churchill Downs 17.5%, Colonial Downs 18%. Keeneland and Oaklawn go further on show bets made at the track itself, cutting the take to 10%; Keeneland's page puts it as a $2.80 show payoff off-track paying $3.00 on-track.

The exotics cost the most, and the spread is wide. A trifecta or superfecta pool loses 21% at Oaklawn, 22% at Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Colonial Downs, 24% at NYRA, 25% at Parx and Delaware Park and 26% at Gulfstream. The same $1 trifecta that pays $100 after a 21% takeout would, with the same bets in the pool, pay about $94 after 26%.

Some multi-race bets are priced low on purpose. Tracks use pick 5s, late pick 3s and late doubles at 12% to 15% to attract bigger pools: Colonial Downs' pick 5 is 12%, and every track in the table has at least one bet at 15% or less. Those pools are harder to hit, so a low takeout does not make them a better bet for a casual player, only a less expensive one per dollar wagered.

How the pools are split once takeout is gone is in exotic wagering for beginners, and bankroll management for beginners shows what these percentages do to a day's budget on average.