wagering

According to statistics released Feb. 4 by Equibase, wagering on North American racing during the first month of the new year totaled $942.6 million, a decrease of 1.82% from the corresponding figure from 2021, while owners raced for purse money of better than $82 million combined, a whopping 15.48% more than the $71.1 million from 12 months ago. Despite the wintry weather that annually claims its fair share of programs and a pause in racing in Maryland owing to track maintenance, the number of race days increased fractionally last month...

California's purse and handle numbers are in, and after the pandemic-stricken figures of last year, there's plenty of reason for encouragement. A 13% increase in California races over 2020 translated into a 17% increase in all source handle and a 19% increase in purse generation. "Handle is up everywhere, including Southern California, which generated really nice purses for us in 2021," said Gary Fenton, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). "It's created this momentum for us," Fenton said, pointing to the purse enhancements offered by Santa Anita and...

According to figures released Wednesday by Equibase, $12,218,407,637 was wagered on horse racing in the U.S. in 2021. The figure marks the first time betting has topped $12 billion since 2009 when $12.315 billion was bet. "Against an extraordinarily difficult backdrop, the resiliency of Thoroughbred racing was on full display in 2021, as we concluded the year with significant growth in purses and total handle of more than $12 billion, the highest since 2009," NTRA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Rooney said in a statement. "We thank our customers...

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...

The 2021 Fall Meet at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, closed Oct. 30, with record all-sources wagering of better than $181 million over the course of 17 days of live racing at the historic facility. When the dust had settled Saturday afternoon, all-sources wagering (not including whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland) totaled $181,009,626, obliterating the previous record of $164,680,229 established during this year's Spring Meet and the previous Fall Meet record of $160,207,916 set in 2019. This year's all-sources wagering numbers represented a 22% increase over last fall's $148,229,708. Keeneland...

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...

Total all-sources handle at the Monmouth Park meet, which wrapped up Sunday, Sept. 26, showed an increase, hardly a surprise since this year's season included 11 more cards than the 2020 meet, which was shortened due to COVID-19 issues. Monmouth didn't fare nearly as well in the more relevant category of daily average handle. During this year's 55-day meet, average daily handle was $3,154,748, a decline of 17.13% over 2020 figures, when the average handle was $3,807,082. The 2020 Monmouth meet consisted of 44 cards. The decline begs the question:...

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs wrapped up Sunday with a nearly 24% rise in handle from the same period last year. A total of $74,088,532 was wagered via all-sources handle, up $14,260,088 (or 23.8%) from last year's total of $59,828,444, which was also a record at the time. Sunday's card of 10 races saw a handle of $13,899,277, third-highest at the all-turf track. Saturday's wagering of $20,849,967 on 11 races set a new mark for one day of racing at Kentucky Downs. The big story of the six-day meet...

Wagering essentially stayed the same in July compared to the same month from 2020 while still showing marked improvement over corresponding 2019 numbers, according to the latest economic indicators released by Equibase. Purses continued to rise over last year's pandemic-affected levels and eclipsed 2019 numbers for July. Overall, $1,101,617,446 was wagered on U.S. races in July 2021, compared to $1,098,021,143 in 2020, a slight uptick of 0.33%. In July of 2019, $942,243,633 was wagered, making last month's numbers a 16.91% increase over that figure. With the number of race days...

Cards from Racecourse Media Group's 34 British racecourses and 26 Irish racecourses will now be available to bettors in India through a new agreement between RMG and the Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC). RMG's partnership with SIS makes the wagering possible, and content will be shown live for pari-mutuel (tote) betting and can be accessed via www.betindiaraces.com for mobile and web users. Harish Ramchandani, Steward at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, said, "The Royal Calcutta Turf Club, one of the oldest race clubs in the world, is delighted to work...

Colonial Downs kicked off its 2021 racing season Monday with a record opening day handle of $2.66 million, spurred by a four-pack of $100,000 Virginia-restricted turf stakes races, and the return of fans to the New Kent track now in its third year under ownership of the Colonial Downs Group. "We would like to thank the horsemen, our fans on and off site and our team for starting the meet on the right foot," said John Marshall, Executive VP Operations for the Colonial Downs Group. "What a delight it was...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and Monmouth Park will partner for an all-graded $0.20 Pick 6 Saturday, July 17. The wager will feature 15% takeout and mandatory payout. Saturday's included races are Saratoga's GI Diana S. and GIII Sanford S., in addition to Monmouth's GI TVG.com Haskell S., GI United Nations S., GIII Monmouth Cup S., and GIII Molly Pitcher S. NYRA is also offering a cross-breed Cross Country Pick 5 Saturday in partnership with the Meadowlands, New Jersey's harness track.