Harness: Handle up at Mohawk in 2015

Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) today announced wagering numbers were up for the 2015 Mohawk Standardbred meet, which concluded on Tuesday, September 29.

The 2015 Mohawk meet, which began on April 9, featured 118 race cards and an “all-sources” betting total of $181,432,431, an 18.9 percent increase over 2014.

The average per race handle of $138,603 showed a 4.2 percent increase over the 2014 average of $132,958.

The 2015 meet, which featured 16 more racing dates than 2014, was highlighted by wagering increases on several of Mohawk’s signature race dates.

The Pepsi North America Cup card on Saturday, June 20 generated the highest-handle in North America Cup history, as $4,292,777 was wagered on the 15-race card. Wagering on the 2015 Pepsi North America Cup card was up 24.9 percent in comparison to the 2014 edition. A crowd of over 11,000 helped raise the on track handle for the event 20.6 percent.

Canadian Trotting Classic night on Saturday, September 19 also saw an increase in wagering in 2015. A total of $2,664,628 was wagered on the Canadian Trotting Classic card, a 12.3 percent increase in comparison to the 2014 total of $2,372,215.

“We had another successful Mohawk meet,” said Jamie Martin, Executive Vice-President of Racing. “We were pleased with our big race nights, which featured strong attendance and wagering numbers. Beginning the meet in April went well and we offered a high quality product to our customers and racing opportunities to our horsepeople over the course of the six-month meet.”

Sylvain Filion led all drivers in wins with 160 victories during the meet. Carmen Auciello, last year’s leading trainer on the WEG Circuit, sent out 55 winners to lead all trainers.

The Woodbine Fall-Winter Standardbred meet kicks-off on Thursday, October 1.

-edited release (WEG)