Breeders' Cup Sees 4% Jump In Attendance, But Total Handle Down

Attendance for this weekend's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park was up 4%, but the total handle was down 6%. A crowd of 61,114 attended yesterday's races, which combined with the crowd on Friday brought the total attendance to 98,319. That is an increase of 4% over last year’s attendance of 94,628. The total amount bet on the two days of racing was $151,158,815, down from the '13 handle figure of $160,704,877 (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer). The two-day attendance total "made it the best-ever for a Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita since the event went to two days" (L.A. TIMES, 11/2).

The start of the Classic "was a wild one, with some of the horses in the full field of 14 bouncing into each other like bumper cars at the county fair." It "began like a demolition derby, with horses crashing into each other out of the starting gate" (AP, 11/2).