Handle at Belmont fall meet up slightly over last year

All-sources handle at the Belmont Park 2019 fall meet was $274,929,718, a 2.2 percent increase over the 2018 Belmont fall meeting, according to figures released Wednesday by the New York Racing Association.

Meanwhile, ontrack handle was $32,523,572, a 2.6 percent decline from the figure of $33,396,906 recorded a year ago.

There were 324 races run at the 2019 Belmont fall meet. The meet was originally scheduled for 38 days, but one full card was canceled due to inclement weather, and Sunday’s closing-day program lost eight of nine races due to the elements. In 2018, the Belmont fall meet consisted of 330 races run over 35 days with one card canceled due to poor weather.

This fall’s figures were helped by a significant increase in handle on the late pick five, which was open to all customers and handled $7,062,554, compared to $1,830,854 in 2018 when that bet was restricted to in-state players or those who wagered through the NYRA Bets advance-deposit wagering platform.

The Empire 6, with a 20-cent minimum bet, handled only slightly more ($8,338,716) than the previous traditional $2 pick six ($8,281,639) in 2018. It would have done better had the bet been available Sunday when the entire pool was required to have been paid out because it was closing day. But those races were canceled and the mandatory payout, with a $279,432 carryover, will now be now offered Friday, opening day at Aqueduct.

While the late pick five had an increase in handle, the late pick four had a decline in wagering to $10,303,941 compared to $12,669,209 last fall.

This year’s meet was aided by largely good weather that allowed for 158 turf races to be run with only 13 taken off the turf. In 2018, there were 117 turf races run with 64 forced to the dirt.

Field size at the 2019 meet was 7.34 horses per race, compared to 7.29 at last year’s meet. Field size for dirt races at the 2019 meet was 6.53 horses per race compared to 6.68 in 2018.