Handle on 2023 Belmont Stakes increases 12.5 percent

Total handle on the Belmont Stakes on Saturday was up 12.5 percent compared to the depressed wagering totals on the race last year, according to charts of the races.

Total wagering on the race, including all multi-leg bets that ended in the Belmont, was $56.53 million, well above last year’s total handle of $50.25 million. However, last year’s Belmont wagering total was down 16.5 percent compared to the 2021 running, which had total wagering of $60.15 million.

This year’s Belmont had nine runners, including Forte, the favorite in the Kentucky Derby prior to his race-day scratch from that race; the Preakness winner, National Treasure; and Angel of Empire, the favorite in the Derby who finished third in that race. Forte went off the favorite in the Belmont off a 10-week layoff. The race was won by Arcangelo, who went off at 7.90-1.

Betting in the straight pools and exotic pools was up substantially compared to last year, when all of those pools registered double-digit declines. Last year’s Triple Crown suffered from a lack of public interest due to a rotating cast of horses competing throughout the three races. The Belmont field last year had eight horses.

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The strong Belmont numbers contributed to a strong overall showing for the 13-race card at Belmont on Saturday, with total betting reaching $118.28 million, up 20.1 percent over last year’s poor showing and $7 million higher than the full-card handle in 2021. The total was a full-card record for a year in which a Triple Crown was not on the line.

Wagering numbers were running stronger than last year’s card throughout the day, in part due to several races with much larger fields than races in the same spots last year. In total, 124 horses ran on the card on Saturday, compared to only 100 horses last year.

The full-card betting this year benefited from the lack of competition from Churchill Downs, which put its own live-racing program on hiatus last weekend due to concerns about a string of deaths at the track this year. Racing on Saturday in Kentucky was held at Ellis Park, a track owned by Churchill with a far lower national profile.

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