All-sources handle up year over year through first four days at Spa

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Despite a slow opening day – due to a combination of an early opening and inclement weather – all-sources handle for the first four days of the 2019 Saratoga meet is up 2.5 percent compared to the first four days of the 2018 meeting. However, ontrack handle is down 17.9 percent compared to the first four days last year.

All-sources handle on the meet that began Thursday was $73,441,101, compared to $71,671,188 last year when the first four days were Friday through Monday. This year’s opening day was hampered by weather, and all-sources handle was down $4.5 million. But all-sources handle on Sunday was $18,040,127. All-sources handle on last year’s first Monday card was $9,094,272.

While overall business is good, ontrack business has been slow to start.

Ontrack handle through the first four days this year is $13,402,200, down from $16,320,098 last year.

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Paid admission for the first four days was 105,690, down 3.3 percent from last year’s figure of 109,395.

There have been 41 races run so far this year, 22 on the dirt, 19 on turf. Last year, there were 40 races run through the first four days, 23 on dirt, 17 on turf. Field size has been virtually the same; 7.92 horses per race this year; 7.93 last year.

The July 11 opening is the earliest in recent memory and was done to accommodate a mostly five-day-a-week racing schedule. Mondays and Tuesdays are dark with the exception of closing day, Labor Day Monday.