Breeders' Cup card has record handle

Total all-sources handle on the eight Breeders' Cup races on Saturday at Belmont Park was $116,465,923, a Breeders' Cup record and up 6 percent from last year's final number, according to figures provided by a Breeders' Cup official on Thursday.

The final figure includes separate-pool betting in foreign countries of $3,171,756. The figure also includes commingled handle from foreign countries, a number that totaled $7,957,535 this year, including $5,383,588 from Canadian bettors who were able to bet into commingled pools for the first time. Last year, Canadian bettors wagered $4.9 million into a separate pool.

Last year, the final figure for all eight Breeders' Cup races at Lone Star Park was $109,838,668, a record at the time.

Total betting on the 10 races at Belmont on Saturday was $124,009,593, a record for Belmont Park and any Breeders' Cup card. Last year, betting on a 12-race card at Lone Star was $120,897,141.

The final Nielsen rating for NBC's Breeders' Cup broadcast on Saturday was a 1.5, up 7 percent from last year's final rating of 1.4, according to figures provided by NBC.

The 1.5 rating, which represents approximately 1.58 million households, was the second-lowest rating in 21 years for the telecast, which this year ran for five hours. Share, a measure of the percentage of televisions in use tuned to the broadcast, was a 4, identical to last year.