Breeders' Cup wagering up 1.1 percent at $135.5 million

Total betting on the 13 Breeders’ Cup races held at Santa Anita on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 was $135.5 million, the Breeders’ Cup said Wednesday after adding in the money wagered on the races from international locations.

The Breeders’ Cup said the total, which includes separate-pool wagers, was up 1.1 percent compared with total handle on the same 13 races held on the two days of the event last year. The Breeders’ Cup dropped a race, the Marathon, from its lineup this year. Handle on the Marathon was $4.8 million last year.

Total handle on the two cards this year was $159.1 million, the Breeders’ Cup said, down 2.7 percent from last year. The total was the fourth-highest in the history of the Breeders’ Cup, which went to a two-day event in 2007.

A total of 159 horses started in the 13 races this year, the second-most starters in the event’s history, for an average of 12.2 horses per race. The record for starters was set in 2012, when 173 horses started in 15 races at Churchill Downs.