Dubai handle steady

North American handle on the six-race was $2,552,554 this year, according to Marc Anderson, an official of Churchill Downs Simulcast Network, the company that made the signal available to North American sites. The total handle figure this year, which includes commingled wagers from all U.S. sites as well as the wagers in a Canadian separate pool, represented a decline of 0.8 percent from last year's $2,573,259.

Total handle on the World Cup itself was $1,307,323 a decline of 12.5 percent from $1,494,365 last year.

Bets for the World Cup were commingled through a hub in South Africa for the first time this year. In previous years, either Fair Grounds racetrack in Louisiana or Arlington Park in Illinois has acted as the hub. Following South African betting customs, place betting paid off for any horse who finished first, second, or third, and show betting was not made available.

This year's winner, Roses in May, the favorite, paid $4.20 to win and $2.10 to place. Dynever, the U.S.-bred horse now based in Dubai, paid $4.20 to place and combined for a $27 exacta. The trifecta, including the U.S.-based Choctaw Nation in third, paid $164.80, and the superfecta, including Jack Sullivan in fourth, was $1,126.30.

The World Cup card was distributed by Churchill Downs Simulcast Network under an agreement with Dubai Racing Club, the operator of Nad Al Sheba racecourse. The racing club receives about half of the revenue from wagering on the races.