California betting increases for January, board reports

ARCADIA, Calif. – Betting at California tracks rose by 3.4 percent in January compared with the same month last year, executive director Rick Baedeker said at Wednesday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.

Baedeker said that handle on daytime Thoroughbred programs at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita rose by 1 percent in January. Business at nighttime meetings of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos and harness racing at Cal-Expo rose 27.8 percent.

Baedeker cited an increase in account wagering on nighttime races and additional racing days as reasons for the improved business.

In 2014, handle on all races in California was down 1.3 percent compared with 2013, to $3.06 billion.

◗ Dortmund, unbeaten in four starts and a leading contender for the Triple Crown, worked a half-mile in 49 seconds at Santa Anita on Thursday.

Trained by Bob Baffert for Kaleem Shah, Dortmund won the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7. Thursday’s workout was the first for Dortmund since the Lewis. The colt is a candidate for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 4.