Why qualifying for the Kentucky Derby is 9x harder than becoming a NASA astronaut

Think getting accepted into Y Combinator is hard? Try qualifying for the Kentucky Derby.

The 2025 Kentucky Derby is horse racing’s most exclusive starting gate. Twenty horses will post at Churchill Downs on May 3—an elite field, even by exclusivity’s standards. Y Combinator admits less than 3% of startups. Fewer than 1% of those who apply to NASA become astronauts. Google famously hires less than 0.2% of applicants.