California wagering down across the board in 2024

All-sources handle at all racing venues in California declined 7 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to statistics presented at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.

Business at Northern and Southern California Thoroughbred tracks, the harness meeting in Sacramento, and the yearlong mixed meeting of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos reached $2.82 billion last year, down from $3.02 billion in 2023.

All categories showed declines, with an 8 percent drop in ontrack handle, to $193.5 million; and a 2 percent decline from account wagering sources, to $1.02 billion. California bettors wagered $1.22 billion on out-of-state races, a drop of 10 percent from 2023.

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In 2024, there were 291 racing programs throughout the state, a decline of five programs from 2023.

The first month of this year has shown an even steeper decline, attributed to the absence of Thoroughbred racing in Northern California.

In January, all-sources handle at all venues was slightly more than $191 million, a decline of 13 percent from a figure of $218.8 million in January 2023.

There is no racing scheduled in Northern California after the permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields last June, and the cessation of racing at Pleasanton in December. Pleasanton was scheduled to operate a winter-spring meeting early this year, but scrapped the idea after lower-than-expected handle figures last fall. Instead, Santa Anita has offered a small number of races each week for Northern California-based runners.

Officials with the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale said earlier this month that they are exploring hosting a three-weekend meeting in late August and early September. Racing board vice-chairman Oscar Gonzales said officials with Fresno are contemplating racing next fall. Neither organization has approached the racing board to formally seek dates, and would be likely to do so several months in advance of possible race meetings.

The racing board currently has six commissioners after John Carvelli resigned earlier this month, executive director Scott Chaney said on Thursday. Carvelli had a brief tenure on the racing board, joining only last summer. The racing board has a maximum of seven commissioners.

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