Del Mar's all-sources handle on BC cards exceeds expectations

All-sources handle at Del Mar on Breeders’ Cup programs Friday and Saturday were well above expectations, a leading track official said Sunday.

Handle on Breeders’ Cup simulcasts generated by Southern California fans through inter-track wagering at satellite and mini-satellite locations, account wagering sources, and a limited audience ontrack at Del Mar was “a little bit under $14 million in two days,” according to Del Mar chief financial officer Mike Ernst.

“We had projected under $9 million,” Ernst said.

Ernst said approximately $11.6 million was wagered through account wagering sources, $2.1 million through satellite locations and “just under $200,000” at Del Mar. The track is limiting ontrack attendance to owners with horses starting on a specific day during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Del Mar showed a 35 percent increase in all-sources handle in the first four days of the autumn meeting – from Oct. 31 through Saturday – compared to corresponding days in 2019, which did not include simulcasting from the Breeders’ Cup, Ernst said. The 2019 Breeders’ Cup was held at Santa Anita on the weekend before the start of the Del Mar autumn meeting.

The current 15-day Del Mar season continues through Nov. 29.

“The Breeders’ Cup was stronger than we expected,” Ernst said. “The trends are good. All areas of handle are above projections.”

Ernst said the boost in business is not enough to affect purses, particularly since the track raised overnight purses before the start of the current meeting after strong handle during the summer meeting.

“We were pretty aggressive with our purses,” he said. “We had some underpayment and we thought it would be a good use to bump purses. The additional handle to date will help us.”