purses

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit have been projected for the summer meets at Ellis Park ($70,000 through 24 dates in July and August) and Kentucky Downs ($150,000 for seven days in September). Those figures were disclosed by representatives of those tracks Wednesday during a meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee. The projected Ellis MSW purses will be a boost from the $60,000 offered in 2022. Kentucky Downs will remain year-over-year level at $150,000 after last bumping up MSW purses...

Purses for U.S. races continued their positive trend in November, while wagering handle ticked down to essentially put the year's betting numbers on par with 2021's figures heading into 2022's final month, according to economic indicator figures released by Equibase Monday. A total of $918,196,787 was bet on U.S. races in November, a 4.47% decrease from the $961,166,113 wagered in November 2021. For the year, $11,360,902,118 has been bet, just a .4% drop from the $11,406,643,956 wagered through 11 months in 2021. This year's total still represents an 11.7% increase...

Purses rose significantly in September this year compared to September 21 while wagering on U.S. races saw a slight uptick, with a similar split showing for the third quarter of 2022 vs. 2021, according to the economic indicator statistics released by Equibase Wednesday. Wagering totaled $936,206,774 in September, a 2.68% increase from the total of $911,734,704 in September 2021. This year's number, however, was a 9.98% drop-off from the $1,040,000,472 wagered in September 2020. Wagering per race day was $2,317,344, a 7% increase from last September, but an 18.67% drop...

Colonial Downs will offer a record of more than $600,000 in daily average purses and an expanded stakes schedule for the upcoming 2022 meet, starting July 11. The meet has six extra race days this year. The stakes schedule is highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Virginia Derby and $200,000 Virginia Oaks Sept. 6. Maiden special weight races during the meeting will carry a $60,000 purse. As a bonus, once again, all owners will be guaranteed $1,000 per start or their share of the purse money, and all trainers will receive...

Purses are up 15.17% for April 2022 at $103,144,902 compared to $89,560,470 in April 2021. Race days, races and starts have also increased with 14 more race days this April than last year at this time. Meanwhile, wagering is down 2.06% from in April 2021 $1,102,169,529 to $1,079,452,871 in April 2022. Average wagering per race day has also decreased 6.74% from $3,950,428 to $3,684,139. However, wagering is up .19% for the year.

Betting on U.S. Thoroughbred races dropped slightly in March compared to the month's total in 2021, while remaining narrowly ahead through 2022's first three months compared to its pace from the first quarter of 2021, according to Equibase's report of economic indicators released Tuesday. Overall, $942,589,741 was wagered in March, a 2.37% decline from $965,453,678 in March of 2021. The number of race days conducted was nearly identical, with 291 being run this March compared to 292 last year, making the average wagering per race day $3,239,140, down 2.03% from...

Mahoning Valley Race Course raised purses 10%, effective Dec. 21. This is the second increase of the year. "We have had a good year here at Mahoning Valley, setting several handle records along the way," comments Elizabeth Rogers, Assistant Director of Racing, "the timing of this increase will help us set the stage for an even better 2022."

Betting on U.S. Thoroughbred races was up again year over year in November 2021, while the industry saw a major spike in purses for the month, according to figures released by Equibase Monday. The numbers continue the positive economic trends the sport has seen this year as it slowly emerges from the toll taken by the pandemic. A total of $961,813,331 was wagered on U.S. races in November, up 7.4% from the November 2020 figure of $895,546,532. The November 2021 number is more flat when compared with November 2019, when...

Equibase has released the economic indicators for the month of October and year-to-date, as well as the same statistics for October of 2020 and January through October of 2020 for comparison. THOROUGHBRED RACING ECONOMIC INDICATORS FOR OCTOBER 2021 Indicator                           Oct. 2021            Oct. 2020            % Change Wagering/U.S. Races             $950,624,087     $929,063,211           +2.32% U.S. Purses                       $107,844,038      $90,904,717            +18.63% U.S. Race Days                328                        340                           -3.53% U.S. Races                        2,748                    2,852                        -3.65% U.S. Starts                         20,750                  22,410                       -7.41% Avg. Field Size                 7.55                       7.86                           -3.90% Avg. Wagering/Day       $2,898,244          $2,732,539               +6.06% Avg. Purses/Day            $328,793              $267,367                  +22.97%   YTD 2021...

Turfway Park executives are projecting purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races to nearly double to about $60,000 for the upcoming dual meets that will be run December through March. Last season, Turfway paid out just $32,000 for MSW races while conducting meets heavily compromised by both the COVID-19 pandemic and a massive grandstand rebuild that kept the northern Kentucky oval closed to on-track spectators. Turfway's 2021-22 MSW purse projection was disclosed Tuesday during a Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting by Tyler Picklesimer, the track's director of...

According to figures released Tuesday by Equibase, through the first three-quarters of 2021 wagering on U.S. horse racing is up 13.8% over 2020 totals. At the end of September, $9,498,141,414 had been wagered on the sport, a sizeable increase over the comparable figure of 2020 when $8,346,543,422 had been bet. With a strong final quarter, the amount bet on U.S. racing for the year could top $12 billion. That would be the most bet during a year since $11.4 billion was wagered in 2010. The record for most wagered in...

With three weeks remaining in the 2021 horse racing season at Arapahoe Park, racetrack management increased all overnight purses by 2,000. In addition, the purse for the Gold Rush Futurity will see its purse increased from $35,000 to $100,000. The Butch Gleason Classic for older horses will now be a $50,000 race, up from $20,000.