Saratoga Race Course "broke records for on-track handle, total handle, and announced attendance at the meet that ended" yesterday, according to NYRA figures cited by Mark Singelais of the Albany TIMES-UNION. Customers "wagered $157,647,598 on track during the 40-day meet and paid attendance was 1,064,093." NYRA "will announce official totals" today. Total handle "was $648,272,804." It was the "third time in Saratoga history that announced attendance went over 1 million, breaking the mark of 1,049,309" set in '03. There were 8,400 season passes "included in the daily attendance." A crowd of 50,000 "turned out to watch Triple Crown winner American Pharoah lose to Keen Ice" in the $1.6M Travers Stakes. NYRA President & CEO Christopher Kay "pointed out the weather was cooperative all summer, with little rain" (Albany TIMES UNION, 9/8). In New York, Lauren Halligan in a front-page piece notes the season's estimated attendance total "is up from last year, which brought in 972,000 attendees" (SARATOGIAN, 9/8). In Albany, Robin Cooper notes increased wagering on Saratoga races "comes at a time when tracks across the United States are struggling to grow." Nationally, betting on thoroughbred racing has grown by less than 2% "for most of the year." Kay said, "It's been a phenomenal season. We clearly have the best content of any racing organization in the country" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/8).
NOT-SO-SUNNY CALIFORNIA: In San Diego, Ed Zieralski notes Del Mar’s averages "were down" most of this year's meeting, but the "three extra days of racing compared to last year allowed for a bit of a comeback." Total handle "ended being down" 1.2%, but the on-track handle slipped 14.6% compared to last year. Attendance "was off" 12% from last year. Del Mar President & CEO Joe Harper said that the "increased days in the summer and fall, which stretched Del Mar to nearly double their racing days, led to some of the low averages." He added, "It happened at Hollywood Park and at Santa Anita when they added days. We predicted our numbers would be down." Harper said that American Pharoah "really added to the meeting and boosted the final Sunday crowd that turned out to be the second-best of the meeting at 32,997" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/8). Zieralski noted it "seems everyone has a solution for what Del Mar should do to overcome its second straight year of sagging attendance and drops in on-track betting and overall betting handle." While Harper "is happy with operations, the maintenance of the new dirt track by Richard Tedesco and second-year turf course by Leif Dickinson and the overall racing product, it pains him to see how far Del Mar has slipped at the gate and at the windows." Going into the final weekend, overall handle was down over $13.3M from a year ago, and "it’s worse compared to 2013, down nearly" $51.5M (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/6).
