Breeders' Cup: 14-race handle sets record with 4.9 percent increase over 2021

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Total handle on the 14 Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday and Saturday at Keeneland Racecourse was a record $161.99 million, according to charts of the races, and a 4.9-percent gain on last year's record handle of $154.45 million.

This year’s figure benefited from large field sizes throughout the 14 races, whereas last year’s event had a race that drew only five horses and another that drew only six. The record was set despite the Breeders’ Cup being held in the East Coast time zone this year, a factor that usually depresses handle due to early off times in California.

Last year’s Breeders’ Cup was held at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club outside of San Diego. Races in the BC sequence this year generally went off approximately three hours earlier than last year.

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Handle on the Breeders' Cup Classic this year declined 8.6 percent, though the decline was related to steep drops in the multi-race pools ending with that race due to the presence of Flightline, a single in most multi-race pools who went off at .44-to-1. Last year, the favorite in the Classic, Essential Quality, went off at nearly 2-1.

Win, place, and show wagering on the Classic dropped 2.9 percent, but the drop in that pool was more than offset by significant increases in the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta pools. In the multi-race bets, only the pick 5 had a higher handle than the pick 5 ending in the Classic last year.

Handle on the 12-horse Filly and Mare Sprint, the first Breeders’ Cup race, was up 60.8 percent compared to last year’s Filly and Mare Sprint, which had a five-horse field but went off more than three hours later than this year’s race.

On Friday, handle on the five Breeders’ Cup races set a record for that day at $49.27 million. Last year, Friday’s handle was depressed by several million dollars after all bets had to be refunded on the favorite in the Juvenile Turf when Modern Games was mistakenly withdrawn from the pools but allowed to run for purse money only.

This was the third Breeders’ Cup to be held at Keeneland, and the second since 2020. The 2020 event, run with restricted attendance because of the pandemic, had total handle of $141.11 million. The 2015 event, which featured the final career start of Triple Crown winner Justify, had total handle of $125.93 million.

Attendance, which was capped, was 45,973 for the Saturday card and 39,851 for the Friday card, according to Breeders’ Cup.

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