Average daily handle up 11.2 percent at 2021 Aqueduct fall meet
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Aqueduct’s 15-day fall meet averaged $10,295,293 in daily handle, an 11.2 percent increase compared to the average for the corresponding 18-day meet in 2020.
All-sources handle at Aqueduct’s 2021 fall meet – which ended Sunday – was $154,429,388, a 7.3 percent decrease from the 2020 figure of $166,702,976. There were 145 races run at the 2021 fall meet, compared to 175 at the 2020 fall meet.
There were 74 turf races run at the 2021 meet with only six scheduled for the turf being moved to the dirt due to weather. In 2020, there were 68 turf races run, 11 moved to the dirt. Average field size at the 2021 meet was 8.96 starters per race, compared to 8.75 in 2020.
The 2021 Aqueduct fall meet was delayed a week as the New York Racing Association opted to run an additional three days at Belmont, in large part to allow fans to be ontrack to watch and wager on the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. At the time that decision was announced, NYRA was not anticipating opening Aqueduct to fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the state did permit NYRA to open for fans when Aqueduct opened on Nov. 11. Ontrack handle for the meet was $15,268,541, a 35.1 percent increase over 2020 when only a limited number of owners were permitted to attend live racing. The 2019 fall meet, which consisted of 25 cards, generated ontrack handle of $20,712,645.
Aqueduct’s 2021-22 winter meet opened Thursday and will continue through March 2022.