Ellis attendance up, handle off

Ontrack attendance was up slightly while all-sources and ontrack handle were down slightly at the 41-day Ellis Park meet, which ended Monday.

Daily average attendance of 3,017 was up 3.1 percent compared to 2001 figures. Ontrack handle averaged $388,689, down 2.1 percent, while average all-sources handle of $2,948,746 was down 3.6 percent. Purses averaged $192,271 per card, up 2 percent from last year.

Paul Kuerzi, general manager of the Henderson, Ky., track, said the stock market plunge that occurred early in the meet and increased competition for horses from Arlington and Mountaineer were negative factors.

In individual honors, Jon Court won the riding title for an unprecedented fifth year, booting home 69 winners. Bernie Flint, with 26 winners, was the leading trainer for the 10th time at Ellis, while the trio of Bert, Elaine, and Richard Klein was the leading owner with 11 wins.