Weekend Wrap: Keeneland Handle Down, Zurich Classic Sales Up

Keeneland Draws Third-Highest Total Attendance In Track History, But Handle Down

Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, "drew some of the largest crowds in its history this spring," but preliminary results showed a 19.3% drop in all-sources handle to $117M, and a 9.8% decline to $19.2M in "on-track handle for Keeneland's races," according to Gregory Hall of the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL. The track drew 240,755 in total attendance, down 1.1% from 243,606 last year, but still marking the third-highest total in track history. The track's average daily crowd climbed 5.4% to 16,050, the second-highest in track history (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 4/25).

LEADER IN THE CLUBHOUSE: Fore!Kids Foundation Chair Bill Reinhardt, whose organization runs the PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans, said that the event "will become the first tournament on tour this year that will exceed sales from the previous year." Reinhardt said that the tournament, which concluded Sunday, "has already seen a 5[%] increase from last year, and other tournaments around the country they had visited were reporting sales drops" of 25-40%. Reinhardt: "I really think we are going to be one of the few tournaments all year that turn out this way. It shows that New Orleans still plays it big. The Hornets and Saints are constantly having sellouts, and we had probably one of our largest Saturday crowds ever this year" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/27).

MAKING MUSIC: In Nashville, Mike Organ reported the city's Country Music Marathon and Half-Marathon drew 31,352 participants this year, 702 more than last year, marking the biggest field in the event's 10-year history (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/26).