February wagering sees slight dip from year before

Total wagering on Thoroughbred races at U.S. tracks dipped nearly 2 percent in February of this year despite a 4.76 percent jump in the number of races held when compared to the same month last year, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday.

Total wagering declined approximately $14.3 million, from $771.1 million in February last year to $756.8 million in February this year, even though 91 more races were held this February. Average wagering per race dropped 6.3 percent to $378,218.

Though early February of this year resulted in a large number of cancellations due to winter weather, February of last year also had a large number of cancellations. In addition, many racetracks added dates to their racing calendar in February to replace cards lost in late January.

There were eight weekend dates in both February of this year and February of last year.

The average field size dropped by one-fifth of a horse, from 7.98 horses per race in February of last year to 7.78 this year.

The amount of purses paid out to horses jumped 8.6 percent to a total of $79.6 million, due to both the larger number of races and purse increases in Arkansas and Kentucky. Purses in both states are heavily subsidized by casinos revenues.

The average purse increased 3.7 percent to $39,806.

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