Breeders' Cup wagering gets off to record start on 2019 Friday card

Wagering on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Santa Anita Park in Southern California set a record for the Friday slate and was up 9.4 percent over handle on the same five races last year, according to charts of the races.

Total wagering on the five races, including all horizontal bets ending in Breeders’ Cup races held on the 10-race card, was $41.71 million, according to the charts, up from $38.14 million on the five Breeders’ Cup races held last year at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Fifty-seven horses ran in the five races this year, compared with 63 horses last year. The races were run this year on a main track rated fast and a turf course rated firm, under sunny skies. The slate of races run this year were held approximately one hour later than the races last year due to the three-hour time difference between California and Kentucky, which may have benefited wagering figures this year.

For the full 10-race card at Santa Anita, total handle was $56.52 million, a record for a Friday Breeders’ Cup card and a 5.4 percent increase over the 10-race card held at Churchill last year, according to Breeders’ Cup. Attendance on Friday was reported as 41,243, a slight decline from the 42,249 who attended the Friday card at Churchill last year.

The strong showing for the Friday slate of races came amidst strong criticism of racing from some quarters over fatalities at racetracks. The epicenter of that criticism has been Santa Anita, where the deaths of 30 racehorses over the first half of the year triggered intense scrutiny of the sport.

The last time the races were held at Santa Anita, in 2016, total wagering on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on the Friday card was $30.53 million. Those races were an entirely different slate than those presented on Friday, due to the Breeders’ Cup’s decision two years ago to place all of the races for juveniles on the Friday card.

Attendance for that 2016 Friday card at Santa Anita was reported as 45,673, more than 4,000 the number of attendees this year.