Despite sloppy conditions and what appeared on paper to be a less-than-stellar betting race, total handle on the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore set a record while all-sources handle on the entire 14-race card was down 4.4 percent, according to charts of the day’s races. Total handle on the Preakness was $61.97 million, according to the chart of the race, up slightly from the record of $61.27 million set in 2016. The Preakness, won by Kentucky Derby winner Justify, had an eight-horse field, compared to an 11-horse field in 2016. This year’s Preakness handle number was a 2.9 percent jump from last year, when the race had a 10-horse field. For the entire 14-race card, handle was $93.66 million, down 4.4 percent compared with total handle on a 14-race card last year but still the third-best full-card handle total on Preakness Day. The full-card handle figure was surprisingly strong given that only 93 horses ran in the 14 races Saturday, for an average field size of 6.6 horses per race, compared with an average field size of 8.9 horses per race last year. Two races had four-horse fields. Another had only five. The Baltimore area got socked by heavy rains all week, leading to widespread scratches. Four of the five turf races scheduled for the Saturday card were moved to the main track. “I was really surprised,” said Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, the racing company that owns Pimlico, about the handle numbers for the card. “I honestly thought we were going to get killed with the weather and the fields.” :: Get the Belmont Stakes All-Access package for just $29.95! The record Preakness Stakes betting was driven entirely by substantial increases in the superexotic pools, according to charts. While betting on straight wagers was down 2.0 percent and exacta handle was down 7.2 percent, betting in the trifecta pool was up 10.9 percent, to $14.70 million, while betting in the superfecta pool was up 26.5 percent, to $8.85 million. The super high five handle was up 51.6 percent to $879,387. Justify was 2-5 in the Preakness, while Good Magic, who finished fourth after running second in the Derby, was the second choice at 3.90-1. The second-place finisher, Bravazo, was 15-1, and the third-place finisher, Tenfold, was 26-1. Last year, Derby winner Always Dreaming went off at 6-5 in a 10-horse Preakness field. The second choice, Classic Empire, was 2.20-1. Last year’s Preakness was run over a fast track. With small fields throughout the day this year, handle on multi-leg wagers ending in the Preakness was down in nearly every pool, with the exception of the pick six. The pick four handle was $2.37 million, down 10.9 percent, while the pick five handle was $1.75 million, down 6.3 percent. Ritvo said that it was possible that wagering was strong despite the card’s obvious weaknesses because favorites won most of the early races. That could have led to increased churn, Ritvo said, since horseplayers tend to bet back their winnings early on the card. He also said that horseplayers are increasing targeting major race days for their bankrolls, and that trend may have bolstered wagering this year. When asked whether there were specific sites within the track’s simulcast network that had significant increases this year over last year, such as rebate shops that cater to computerized robotic wagering teams, Ritvo said that the track had not yet completed a detailed analysis of the day’s handle figures. “I continue to think big days are just going to keep getting bigger,” Ritvo said. “If we were able to stay on the grass and maintain our fields, maybe we hit $110 million.” Increasingly, horseplayers are betting the races from home, and in that way, the poor weather throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Eastern seaboard may have also bolstered wagering totals, since most people did not have many good outdoor options for a late spring day. Wagering also has been trending up in the U.S. racing industry since new tax rules were put in place last fall that have sharply reduced the number of winning tickets that trigger automatic tax reporting and withholding. The rules have most significantly affected winnings in superexotic pools like those that were up for the Preakness on Saturday. At the racetrack, Pimlico reported that attendance on Preakness Day was 134,487, the third-largest crowd in history. Pimlico has been attempting to attract more and more people to the track’s infield on the day of the Preakness with performances by nationally known musical acts. In the television realm, a live broadcast of the Preakness on NBC posted a 5.5 overnight rating and 12 share, according to the network, a 12 percent gain in the rating over the Preakness broadcast last year. The broadcast peaked at race time, with an overnight rating of 6.6 and a share of 15, NBC said. The rating increase came two weeks after the overnight rating for the Derby posted a 13 percent decline, to a 9.1. The Derby broadcast had a peak rating of 10.9 and peak share of 25.