Belmont business up on Memorial Day

ELMONT, N.Y. – The second year of a non-Met Mile Memorial Day at Belmont Park was better than the first for the New York Racing Association.

Total all-sources handle Monday at Belmont Park was $10,923,486, a 10.1 percent increase over last year’s total handle figure of $9,913,636. Ontrack handle Monday was $2,008,956, a 9.3 percent increase over last year’s figure of $1,837,245.

Attendance was 6,837, down 109 from last year’s figure of 6,946.

On Monday, Belmont hosted Big Apple Showcase Day, a 10-race, six-stakes card entirely of New York-bred races. There were 85 betting interests compared to 73 on last year’s 10-race Memorial Day card. The Poker Stakes was the highlight of last year’s 10-race Memorial Day card.

For years, the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap was the feature on Memorial Day. In 2013, the last year the race was run on Memorial Day, total all-sources handle was $16,191,645 and attendance was 11,664 on an 11-race card that also included the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, the Grade 1 Acorn, and the Grade 2 Sands Point. Last year, the Met Mile, Phipps, and Acorn were all moved to the Belmont Stakes card.