Del Mar summer meet handle declines

All-sources wagering at the Del Mar summer meeting that ended Sunday declined 10.9 percent compared to the corresponding meeting in 2022, a figure affected by the cancellation of a Sunday program last month.

The meeting was scheduled for 31 days, but 30 days of racing were held. The Aug. 20 program was lost because of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Hilary.

According to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form, all-sources total handle on Del Mar racing reached $391.8 million during the eight-week season. All-sources handle at the 2022 meeting was $439.7 million.

This year’s handle figure ranked 10th on the all-time handle list, but was the lowest for a 31-day meeting since the track adopted that calendar in 2021. Average handle this year was $13.06 million, down 7.9 percent from last year, according to DRF statistics. Del Mar did not release detailed attendance and handle figures.

Handle on the Pacific Classic program on Sept. 2 reached $23.6 million, the second-highest for a non-Breeders’ Cup program in track history, second only to the 2021 Pacific Classic program.

The decline in handle will lead to meetings with track officials and the leadership of the Thoroughbred Owners of California regarding purse levels for the track’s autumn meeting from Nov. 10 to Dec. 3. Track executives said earlier this month that purse levels could be lower this fall than the corresponding meeting in 2022.

For the summer meeting, average field sizes declined slightly from a record figure of 9.14 runners in 294 races in 2022 to 8.92 runners in 286 races this year. In 2021, fields averaged 8.45 runners per race.

Jockey Juan Hernandez led all riders with 39 wins this summer, eight more than Antonio Fresu, who was riding at Del Mar for the first time after relocating from Dubai in the spring. Hernandez has emerged as the dominant rider in Southern California in the last year. He was leading rider at the 2022 Del Mar summer meeting.

Phil D’Amato won the training title for the second consecutive summer with 21 wins, one more than Bob Baffert. They were closely followed by Doug O’Neill, who had 19 wins.

Arabian Knight was named horse of the meet on the basis of his win in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, the 3-year-old colt’s first start against older horses and first start at 1 1/4 miles.

The Southern California racing circuit moves to Los Alamitos for a two-week September meeting that begins Friday. Santa Anita hosts an autumn meeting from Sept. 29 to Nov. 5, which will include the two -day Breeders’ Cup Championships on Nov. 3-4, before Del Mar’s four-week autumn meeting.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.