With increased purses this year, handle and field size climb

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston is riding a wave of momentum heading into Saturday night’s Texas Champions Day program of seven stakes worth a cumulative $525,000.

It’s the second richest program of the season – a season in which Sam Houston has seen double-digit gains in handle compared to the comparable meet in 2019.

Sam Houston was able to increase purses from an average of $140,000 a program last year to $240,000 this meet because of a new Texas law that makes a portion of existing taxes on horse products and services available for purses at the state’s tracks.

Sam Houston is the first Texas meet to race under the new law.

“The season has gone even beyond our expectations,” said Frank Hopf, senior director of racing operations for Sam Houston.

Sam Houston has handled an average of $1,789,643 per program for the first 32 dates of its meet, which closes March 28. The number is up 39 percent from the entire 32-date meet in 2019, according to figures provided by the track. Sam Houston, which added seven dates of racing this season, is up 41 percent offtrack through Tuesday, for a daily average in that category of $1,693,911.

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The track is averaging 8.5 starters a race this meet, up more than 7 percent over last season, Hopf said. It’s run 315 races through Tuesday, up more than 14 percent over the full season in 2019.

Sam Houston recently began conducting spectator-free racing ontrack due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Even the last three days without spectators we’re at least 40, 42 percent above last year,” Hopf said of handle. “We’re still seeing a strong turnout from bettors.”

In the last week, Sam Houston has seen an increase in offtrack betting due to other tracks suspending racing in the wake of the coronavirus. However, the meet had already established its strong upward trend for 2020.

“I think the numbers are pretty relative to what we’ve been at this season,” Hopf said. “There are less betting opportunities. There’s obviously tracks that had to close beyond they’re control. But we’ve been trending at a 40 percent increase all season. We’ve maintained the same levels.”

Less than two weeks into this year’s meet, Sam Houston realized a record handle for its annual Houston Festival card featuring the Houston Ladies Classic and Connally Cup on Jan. 26. There was $3.2 million bet on the card from all sources, one of the top 10 handles in the history of Sam Houston.

Awards banquet postponed

Sam Houston was scheduled to host the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s annual awards banquet and meeting this weekend in conjunction with Texas Champions Day program, but the event has been postponed due to the coronavirus restrictions on attendance at events. For those who live in the state and are not able to bet online, the track’s races Saturday will be available for viewing on the Sam Houston website.

The 10-race card Saturday night has a first post of 6:45 p.m. Central. The stakes will be run consecutively on races 3 to 9. The sixth race, the $75,000 Richard King, has drawn top Texas turf horse Redatory, while the seventh race, the $75,000 Spirit of Texas, lured 2018 Texas-bred of the year Direct Dial.

The forecast calls for a high of 68 degrees and a 40 percent chance of showers, according to The Weather Channel.