DraftKings Just Added Horse Racing in Nine States — Everything You Need to Know Before the Derby and Beyond

DraftKings has been building toward this for a while, and it finally landed just ahead of the Kentucky Derby. The company launched DraftKings Racing — a horse racing wagering product embedded directly inside the DraftKings Sportsbook app — in nine states by late April 2026. That is a significant shift from how horse racing has worked on the platform before, and it has real implications for anyone who bets horses, whether you are a seasoned handicapper or just curious about the Derby.

What Is DraftKings Racing and How Is It Different From DK Horse

Until now, DraftKings offered horse racing through a standalone app called DK Horse, which operated as a white-label affiliate of Churchill Downs’ TwinSpires platform. DraftKings Racing is a fundamentally different product. It is built directly into the main DraftKings Sportsbook app, which means you use the same account, the same wallet, and the same interface you already use to bet sports. If you are in a state where both DraftKings Racing and the sportsbook are live, you can fund your horse racing wagers from your existing balance without creating a separate account or transferring funds between apps.

That shared wallet integration is the clearest practical upgrade. If you have ever fumbled between two apps on a busy Saturday of races and sports, you understand immediately why this matters. The promotions are also integrated — meaning DraftKings can run cross-product offers that apply to both racing and sports activity on a single account.

Which Nine States Have DraftKings Racing Right Now

DraftKings rolled out the product in two waves ahead of the Kentucky Derby. The first launch in late March 2026 brought DraftKings Racing to Delaware, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. The second wave, announced on April 27, 2026, added Florida, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Oregon — bringing the total to nine states with the integrated product live inside the main app.

It is worth noting that horse racing operates under a separate regulatory framework from sports betting. That means DraftKings Racing availability is determined state by state independently of sports betting authorization. Rhode Island is an example: DraftKings Racing is available there even though full-scale DraftKings sports betting is not. In states where both products are live, the shared wallet works; in states where only racing is authorized, horse wagering is available but sports betting is not.

DK Horse, the older standalone app, continues to operate in a broader set of states — including Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, and others — and will be phased out market by market as DraftKings Racing is introduced in each jurisdiction. The company has said it plans to continue the state-by-state rollout throughout 2026.

The Kentucky Derby Promotion and What to Expect From Odds

To mark the launch, DraftKings offered a King of the Track promotion tied to the Kentucky Derby. Users who opted in and correctly predicted the Derby winner could claim a share of a $1 million prize pool. That kind of integrated promotion — tying a major race to a shared-wallet, app-embedded experience — is exactly the use case DraftKings Racing was designed to enable. It is pari-mutuel wagering at its core, meaning your odds and payouts are determined by the pool of bets placed across participating tracks and platforms, not by a fixed line set by the bookmaker.

For handicappers, the move to an integrated app does not change the fundamental nature of horse betting. Win, place, show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, and exotic wagers are all part of the pari-mutuel structure. What changes is convenience and access — particularly for bettors who already have DraftKings accounts and do not want to manage a separate login for racing. Check out our guide to the best horse racing apps for the Kentucky Derby for a full comparison of where DraftKings Racing stacks up.

What This Means for Handicappers Going Forward

The broader implication of DraftKings Racing is that a major sportsbook operator is treating horse racing as a first-class product rather than an afterthought. The shift from a white-label affiliate app to an owned, embedded feature signals that DraftKings sees a meaningful audience of bettors who want to wager on horses through the same platform they use for everything else.

For dedicated horseplayers, the question is how competitive DraftKings Racing will be on rebates and track availability once the rollout is complete. Established dedicated horse betting platforms have long competed on rebate structures that give high-volume bettors a percentage of their handle back. DraftKings has not publicly detailed a rebate program yet, and that will matter to serious handicappers who move significant money. The track selection and signal agreements that DraftKings Racing accesses through its pari-mutuel infrastructure will also determine how broad the wagering menu is for major races beyond the Triple Crown.

For casual bettors, the pitch is simpler: if you already have a DraftKings account and want to bet the Preakness, Belmont, Breeders’ Cup, or any Saturday card from Saratoga or Churchill Downs, you may soon be able to do it without leaving the app you already use. That convenience alone will bring new money into horse racing from the existing DraftKings user base — which is exactly what the sport needs. Our full breakdown of the best horse racing apps includes the complete picture of where DraftKings Racing fits in the competitive landscape. And for those comparing sportsbook options more broadly, the DraftKings Review covers the full platform in depth.