Breeders' Cup card handles $119,467,321

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The preliminary handle on the 12-race Breeders' Cup program on Saturday was $119,467,321, a figure that does not include bets made outside of North America. The Breeders' Cup was held at Lone Star Park, and attendance was 53,717.

Handle on Breeders' Cup Day last year, when the event was held at Santa Anita, was a record $120,631,437 and attendance was 51,648.

Saturday, handle on the eight Breeders' Cup races on-track was $11,901,700, while total handle for the 12-race card ontrack was $13,326,726. The handle figure tops both the live and all-source records for Lone Star, a respective $6.3 million and $7.6 million, both set on Friday The attendance was also a record for Lone Star.

D.G. Van Clief, Jr., president of the Breeders' Cup, said during a press conference on Sunday that handle off-track on the Breeders' Cup, which was more than $106 million, is a new record. He noted that ontrack handle on Breeders' Cup Day compared favorably to the [$13.8] million at Arlington Park in 2002, and the $13.1 million at Belmont Park in 2001. Last year at Santa Anita ontrack handle on Breeders' Cup Day was $16.3 million.

Van Clief said there were 91 starters for the Breeders' Cup this year, comparable to 90 last year at Santa Anita; 90 at Arlington Park in 2002; and 94 at Belmont Park in 2001.

Van Clief said leading up to the Breeders' Cup he fielded a number of questions about new host site Lone Star, and said initial feedback on the event and its site was positive. Lone Star is the youngest track to have hosted a Breeders' Cup. The track was built in 1997.