Del Mar expects to exceed 2019 meet handle this summer
DEL MAR, Calif. - Total handle figures for the current 27-day summer season at Del Mar are projected to exceed the corresponding 36-day summer season in 2019 and result in a surplus in the purse account, track president Josh Rubinstein said Sunday.
The track ran the 13th day of the season on Sunday. The meeting concludes Sept. 7 and has been held amidst significant changes this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The meeting is being conducted without general spectators and with only owners whose runners are participating that day allowed to attend. Before the meeting, racing on Wednesdays and Thursdays was eliminated, and overnight purses were reduced by 20 percent because of the absence of ontrack handle, vital for generating income for prize money.
Purse levels were retroactively increased 10 percent on July 30 to the start of the meeting on July 10 after the first two weekends of racing produced strong handle figures, largely from account-wagering sources.
“It’s been difficult on everyone,” Rubinstein said. “It’s been really challenging. To increase purses and get owners on-site, we’re ecstatic.”
Racing was not conducted on the weekend of July 17-19 because of a coronavirus outbreak in the jockeys’ room. Racing was held on Monday, July 27, as a makeup for one of those days and another program has been added on Monday, Aug. 31.
Total handle at the 2019 summer meeting was $431.9 million, which includes ontrack, simulcasting and account-wagering sources.
“Overall, we’re very pleased with the meeting so far,” Rubinstein said. “Our model was to run more races on high-volume [handle] days on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It’s worked.
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“We’re projected to top [$431.9] million in total handle, and that’s with 25 percent less racing days.”
After racing concluded Sunday, Rubinstein said all-sources handle was $229.9 million this year through 13 days compared to $203.8 million at a similar point at the 2019 meeting, a gain of 12.8 percent.
Rubinstein said it is unclear how extra revenue from purses generated at the current meeting will be distributed to owners, pending conversations with the Thoroughbred Owners of California. Options include a purse increase for the current meeting, or holding money for purses at the autumn meeting, which runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 29.
“We’ll generate an underpayment and decide the best place for that purse revenue to go,” Rubinstein said. “We’ve got to look at the fall and potentially increase some purses in November. It’s a nice little cushion.”