California tracks post 8 percent handle gain during July

DEL MAR, Calif. – After a strong July, all-sources handle at all California tracks showed a gain of 3 percent in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2014, according to figures announced at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting by executive director Rick Baedeker.

In July, all-sources handle at all meetings rose 8 percent over 2014, figures that benefited from an additional day of racing for Thoroughbreds and an additional evening of racing for Quarter Horses. The overall handle in July was $255,997,838, compared with $237,057,512 in 2014.

The largest gain came from account-wagering sources in California, which rose 15 percent over July 2014.

Baedeker reported that business for afternoon Thoroughbred meetings at Del Mar and Los Alamitos in Southern California and the California fairs in Northern California rose 7.5 percent.

For the year, there has been one fewer afternoon of Thoroughbred racing and two additional nights of Quarter Horse and harness racing through July. For the year, handle in the state reached $1.80 billion, compared with $1.75 billion through the end of July in 2014.

Through July, the biggest growth in 2015 was through account wagering, which rose 6 percent to $363.7 million, compared with $342.7 million during the same period last year.

Through last Sunday, all-sources handle at the Del Mar summer meeting rose 1 percent over the corresponding period in 2014, according to statistics released by the racetrack. Ontrack handle was down 10 percent, but growth in simulcasting wagering at satellites and through account wagering throughout the state offset that loss.