Wagering on U.S. races during the month of October experienced nearly a nine percent uptick and purses also saw significant growth compared to a year ago, according to information released by Equibase on Wednesday.
Total wagering of $867,928,259 on races during the month represented a 8.99% increase over the same period from 2024, while available purses of over $115 million were higher by 8.13%. The figure of over $109 million for paid purses in October was also up by 7.59%. As for the total number of race days, they decreased slightly from 312 to 304 (-2.56%) and the number of U.S. races was lower from 2,569 in October 2024 to last month's tally of 2,495 (-2.88%).
Average field size in October was down a touch from over a year ago when it was 7.73, and checked in at an average of 7.69 runners, a decrease of 0.53%. However, average daily wagering increased by 11.86% to $2,855,024, and the average available purse number per race day was up 10.98% to $379,899 from the figure of $342,326 in 2024.
When it comes to the year-to-date figures, through October of 2024 wagering on U.S. races came in at $9.662-billion, while this year the amount is $9.547-billion (-1.19%). Those numbers include worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.
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