An increase in race days in April 2026 led to bumps in both wagering and purses across the United States compared to April of 2025.
The month saw 2,170 races (+2.99%) across 259 race days (+2.78%) which pushed wagering totals to $898,254,315 (+2.23%). Purses were also up, with paid purses jumping to $95,634,866 (+9.14%).
Average wagering per race day dipped slightly to $3,468,163 (-0.53%) while field size also fell to 7.30 (-5.38%) and starts dropped to 15,837 (-2.55%).
Year over year, available and paid purses remained in the green at $356,025,415 (+1.12%) and $337,882,857 (+1.26%) respectively. Wagering on U.S. races year to date finish the month at $3,225,170,563 (-4.69%).
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