Del Mar sets daily average handle record; purses to be boosted for fall meet
DEL MAR, Calif. - Del Mar averaged a record all-sources daily handle of $18.38 million at the 31-day summer meeting that ended on Monday. Business was strong enough for track officials to state that a significant purse increase is planned for the November autumn meeting.
The average daily handle, which includes ontrack, satellite, and, most importantly, account-wagering sources, surpassed the previous mark of $17.32 million set during a 27-day summer meeting in 2020 conducted without ontrack customers because of the pandemic.
Total all-sources handle this summer was $569.98 million, the seventh-highest in track history and comparable to figures achieved during a six-year run in the 2000s when all-sources handle at 43-day meetings ranged from $559.2 million in 2008 to an all-time record of $608.9 million in 2005.
Average field size was slightly higher this year, going from 8.36 runners per race in 2020 to 8.45 this year.
The Del Mar summer meeting no longer includes racing on Mondays and Wednesdays as was the case during seven-week summer seasons in the 2000s. A decline in horse inventory in Southern California has led to a reduction in racing dates during the last decade.
This year’s summer meeting was held over eight weeks and included two three-day weeks of racing to start the season in July, followed by four-day weeks for most of the remainder of the season.
Handle figures for this summer’s meeting include a nine-day period before the start of the meeting when the track derived revenue from simulcast locations and account-wagering sources.
Del Mar did not release attendance figures for the summer meeting. The track had restricted attendance at the start of the meeting, limited to advance purchases, but relaxed that rule early in the season allowing walk-up admissions.
Opening day drew an audience of 15,874 who contributed to a record opening-day handle of $21.3 million. By comparison, the 2019 opening day had an audience of 31,276 before the pandemic.
Del Mar set a single-day handle record of $36 million for a non-Breeders’ Cup program on Aug. 21, the day of the track’s richest race, the $1 million Pacific Classic.
“The live racing product has been so strong,” said Mike Ernst, Del Mar’s chief financial officer. “Online customers that started to follow racing last year continue to follow racing.”
Earlier this year, Del Mar announced an increase in overnight purses for the summer meeting, and raised purses of two stakes once the meeting was underway.
Officials said on Monday that a purse increase is forthcoming for the 15-day autumn meeting that will run from Nov. 1-28 and includes the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 5-6.
“I understand we’ll have some strong purses for the fall,” Ernst said.
On the track, jockey Flavien Prat, 29, led all riders with 47 wins, 15 more than runner-up Juan Hernandez. Prat has won the last three summer meeting riding titles, and won or tied for first five times in his career.
Peter Miller, 54, was leading trainer with 26 wins, six more than Bob Baffert. Miller, who won the training title at the 2020 summer meeting, has won or tied for the training title at five summer meetings.
Tripoli, the winner of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, was named horse of the meeting. Tripoli races for Hronis Racing, which led all owners with $1,021,440 in earnings.