Breeders' Cup: Wagering down 10 percent for Friday races

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Betting on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., was down 10.0 percent compared to the five races held on the first day of the event last year at Santa Anita in Southern California, according to charts of the races.

In addition to the impacts of coronavirus on the on-track crowd this year, the decline was likely related to the time difference between the two events, as handle on events held in the East Coast time generally draw less in betting than events held on the West Coast. The first Breeders’ Cup race on Friday was off at 2:33 p.m., or 11:33 a.m. California time, compared to 4:14 Eastern time last year.

Total handle on the five races, including all multi-leg wagers ending in a Breeders’ Cup race, was $37.53 million, according to charts, compared to $41.71 million last year. Last year also had an additional pick 4 and pick 5 in the five-race sequence, accounting for $3.16 million in bets.

There were 63 betting interests in the five races on Friday, compared to 57 last year. The Juvenile, the last race of the sequence with a post of 5:17 p.m. Eastern this year, compared to 7:06 p.m. Eastern last year, had 14 horses this year, compared to eight last year. Handle in the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta pools this year was up significantly. Handle for the daily double and pick three ending in the Juvenile was more than double the amount of last year.

This year’s Breeders’ Cup was held with limited people on track due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, attendance at Santa Anita on the Friday card was 41,243.