By Frank Scandale @Fscandale @TheDailyPayoff

If you combine a little bit of skill with a paddock full of luck, you could be walking away with $1 million this weekend when the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby goes off.
At the very least, the creators and backers of this inaugural online event hope the casual horse racing fans become more attached to the sport as they try to grow the audience with a combination of betting and appreciation for the sport.
Walter Hessert, co-founder and chief product officer of DerbyGames, a social online horse racing game, said the odds are better to win if you pay even a little attention to the Kentucky Derby leading up to the race Saturday.
The goal is to pick each of the 20 horses in their exact order of finish to win the $1 million.

“The odds are long.  If you know nothing, a completely random entry is 1 in 20 factorial.  But, knowing just a little about the horses improves your odds a lot,” Hessert said.Those interested in participating in the Derby Million Dollar Challenge should go to www.derbymillion.com and rank the Derby horses in the correct order of finish to win the $1,000,000 grand prize.

Entry is free through Saturday, May 2 at 12 pm ET. Along with their rankings, contestants must provide their name, a valid email address and zip code. Contestants will be encouraged to share their entry with their friends using the hashtag #DerbyMillion and if the winner of the grand prize entered the sweepstakes through a friends referral link, then that friend wins $100,000 – so it “pays to share,’ Hessert said.

Hessert’s company partnered with America’s Best Racing, a multi-media fan development and awareness-building platform initiated by The Jockey Club,
in an effort to combine those with a love of the sport with those who enjoy wagering on the horses.
“It’s a fun way to digitally engage the audience for that Derby day,” he said. “Then we get to follow up with emails and develop more fans, which is the goal.”