wagering

Weather Causes Drop In January Economic Indicators

Several days of cancelled races due to weather, especially along the East Coast, led to over a 10% dip in wagering from January compared to the same time last year according to statistics released by Equibase. Last month saw 217 race days with a total of 1,853 carded races and $779,860,113 wagered (-10.76%), down from 265 days, 2,280 races and $873,842,469 wagered in Jan. '23, leading to drops in purses paid (-14.94%) and totals starts (-17.36%). On the positive side, despite those cancellations, average wagering was up (+8.99%) as was...

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Handle Drops by 3.7% in 2023 as Purses Also Take a Slight Dip

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...

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Horseshoe Indy Makes Veteran's Day Donation To HVAF

Team members and racing fans at Horseshoe Indianapolis participated in the third annual Veteran's Day event Nov. 10 to raise proceeds for the Hoosier Veterans and Families, Inc. (HVAF) of Indiana, according to a release by the track Monday. The event featured several ways to raise funding and awareness for veterans including naming each race in honor of a veteran associated in some way to Horseshoe Indianapolis. Special saddle towels were also awarded to veterans and family members honored during the racing program. Additionally, a Veteran's Day Pick 5 Challenge...

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Report: Outlandishly High Pari-Mutual Pools Might Have Been Sparked By FanDuel 'Glitch'

Outlandishly high amounts of money that were bet into exotic pools at Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks across the country during a several-hour time window Wednesday might have been the result of a feeding frenzy of opportunistic gamblers trying to take advantage of an alleged "glitch" in the FanDuel Racing account wagering system that debited only the base cost of a wager from a customer's account instead of correctly pricing multiple-combination bets at much higher amounts. Although both FanDuel executives and state regulators were largely mum on the subject of the...

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Pat Cummings Q&A: “Our Struggles Are Entirely Collective”

Late last month, owner Mike Repole announced the formation of the National Thoroughbred Alliance (NTA), an organization charged with providing emergency triage to an industry struggling with fiscal ill-health for quite some time. For executive director of the NTA, Repole tapped Pat Cummings, who previously headed the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, an organization focused on instituting change for racing's primary customers, the horseplayers and horse owners. At a press conference for the NTA's launch, Repole discussed his intentions in broad over-arching terms that were light on specifics. To put some meat...

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Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators Show Mostly Declines for October

Wagering on U.S. races, available and paid purses, as well as the total number of racing days, all saw declines to varying degrees during the month of October, according to information released by Equibase on Monday. Total wagering of $818.9 million on races during the month represented a 9.34% decrease over the same period from 2022, while available purses of $108.5 million were down by 10.43%. The figure of $104.2 million for paid purses in October was down 10.81%, while the total number of race days dropped from 332 to...

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Keeneland Wraps 2023 Fall Meet With Near-Record Handle

Keeneland closed its 2023 Fall Meet on a high note Saturday. The meet produced total all-sources wagering of $201.7 million, the second-highest Fall Meet handle and fourth-highest handle in Keeneland history. "The Fall Meet was terrific from start to finish, and we are thankful for the strong support of our participants, fans and community," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "It was rewarding to see crowds line the rail through the very last race every day, savoring all the excitement this season had to offer. And with the recent...

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Flemington Kickstarts Run of Australian World Pool Meetings

Kicking off the World Pool meetings, last weekend's Turnbull Stakes Day at Flemington drew HK$133.4 million (approx. A$26.6 million) in wagering. The card consisted of five races from Flemington combined with four from Newmarket and one, the Gran Premio Latinoamericano, from San Isidro. Defending G1 Melbourne Cup champion Gold Trip took the featured G1 Turnbull S. The combined Win pool on the five World Pool races (A$6,545,489.82) was almost nine times the combined pool on the five non-World Pool races with the Victorian tote ($743,831.06). Meanwhile, the combined Duet (Quinella...

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Wagering Up 4.3% at Kentucky Downs

Edited Press Release The key indicators to measure the success of a race meet were either up or maintained a lofty level at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, which came to a close Wednesday. Purses paid out to horse owners were a record for the 12th straight year. Money wagered was another record, increasing 4.3%. Field sizes remained among the highest in the country with an average of 10.42 starters per race. "Kentucky Downs' ownership led by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone continually pushes us to present racing in...

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Ellis Park Meeting Concludes with 22% Increase in All-Sources Handle

Ellis Park Racing & Gaming's summer season has come to a close with a substantial 22% gain in all-sources handle and 48% increase in prize money awarded. In total, more than $60.4 million was wagered at the 24-day Ellis Park meet, $11 million more than 2022. Along with the sizable handle increase, the connections who raced at Ellis Park were rewarded with more than $14.1 million in prize money, an increase of 49% from 2022. (includes funds from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund). "The racing season at Ellis Park has...

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Return of King's Plate Generates Largest Handle in Woodbine History

The 164th King's Plate generated the largest single-card handle in Woodbine Racetrack history on Sunday afternoon. A total of $18,127,049.67 was wagered on Sunday's 13-race King's Plate card, eclipsing the previous record of $18,005,973.60 from the 2019 Queen's Plate. The record handle is also a significant increase from last year's Queen's Plate handle of $13.6 million. "It's exciting to have ushered in a new era for the Plate in record-breaking fashion," said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. "We felt good about the buzz surrounding the first King's Plate in...

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Santa Anita Returns Traditional Pick Six

Santa Anita Park will return to a traditional $1 Pick Six when its 18-day Autumn Meet opens on Friday, Sept. 29, the track said in a press release early Friday. Officials have responded to the wishes of a vast number of players seeking a return to a more traditional format with 70 percent of the net pool paid to tickets which correctly select all six winners and 30 percent paid in a consolation payoff to those players who select five of six winners. As is the case with the traditional...

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