Belmont at the Big A handle down more than officials expected

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - All-sources handle at the Belmont at The Big A meet was $238,442,142, down 16.2 percent from the $284,658,894 handled at the 2021 Belmont Park fall meet, according to figures provided by the New York Racing Association.

Ontrack handle was $22,157,088, down 18.7 percent from last fall’s figure of $27,239,297.

NYRA management had previously said it had budgeted for a 10 to 15 percent decline in handle having to move the meet to Aqueduct while the construction of a vehicular and pedestrian tunnel was being constructed to Belmont’s infield, part one of a multi-phased project designed to ultimately move all downstate racing to Belmont.

About 10 inches of rain in September and October prompted 27 scheduled turf races to be moved to the main track this fall, leaving 107 to be run on the turf. At the 2021 Belmont fall meet, there were 126 turf races run with only 16 forced off the turf.

Betting interests averaged 7.76 horses per race at this years BAQ meet compared to 8.02 at the 2021 Belmont fall session.

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