Handle at California tracks up sharply this year

ARCADIA, Calif. – Favorable weather and large fields led to a sharp increase in all-sources handle at California’s racetracks in the first three months of the year.

Handle for the year surpassed $764 million through March, a gain of 11.85 percent from the corresponding period in 2017 for Thoroughbred meetings at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields, the nighttime harness meeting at Sacramento, and the nighttime mixed meeting at Los Alamitos, according to figures released at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.

The Thoroughbred meetings handled $682.2 million, a gain of 12.6 percent. There were 51 days of Thoroughbred racing in the first three months of the year, the same as in 2017, and 37 night programs, one more than last year.

The first three months of 2017 were plagued by wet weather throughout the state. This year, January and February were relatively dry in Southern California.

With better weather, the tracks had more runners per race. Santa Anita, for example, averaged 7.84 runners in 442 races in the first three months, compared with 7.44 runners in 419 races last year. Golden Gate Fields showed moderate growth with 6.64 runners per race this year compared with 6.30 in 2017.