Business down at Remington

Remington Park in Oklahoma City, which has been struggling in the face of increased competition from American Indian casinos, reported declines in average attendance and ontrack handle during its 2003 season, which closed Nov. 30.

Officials said the track will not announce offtrack handle figures because Remington, which is owned by Magna Entertainment, raced a drastically different schedule this year than it did in 2002.

Remington handled $79,475 a day on its races ontrack, down 2 percent from last year, while attendance averaged 1,637, down 11 percent from 2002. The figures represent an 82-date meet that ran from June 27 to Nov. 30. The track's Thoroughbred-only portion of the meet ran for 57 days, from Aug. 22 to Nov. 30. The first part of the season was for both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. For the first time in its 15-year history, Remington did not race during the Triple Crown.

Next year, Remington will resume a more familiar calendar, with a spring meet for Quarter Horses and a Thoroughbred meet to start on July 30.

Jockey Cliff Berry won his ninth title at the track and during the Thoroughbred portion of the meet won 100 races from 375 starts. Joe Offolter was the leading trainer, with 41 wins from 161 starters during the Thoroughbred meet while the leading owner was Gary Owens.