Indiana Downs has increase in average handle

Indiana Downs closed out its 2010 meet with a bang Wednesday evening, handling More than $2.6 million for the 13-race card. The Shelbyville, Ind., track had never handled more than $2.1 million on any given card. Daily handle for on the meet’s live races averaged more than $1 million for the first time in the track’s existence. The average daily handle from all sources was $1,017,355, up more than 3 percent from $983,848 in 2009.

The track, with its adjacent casino, charges no admission fee, so attendance figures are unknown.

Field size was up slightly over last year, with an average of 8.86 starters compared with 8.83 las5t year.

Indiana Downs ran 60 dates this year two fewer than in 2009, as two dates were lost to inclement weather. Average daily ontrack handle was up a fraction at $2,254,694 this year.

Thr track’s general manager, Jon Schuster is very happy with the 2010 meet.

“We are ecstatic with the year we had,” he said. We had a good combo of new and old trainers and a much-improved program. We had some quality owners, trainers, and jockeys and the Indiana folks put on a great show this year.”

Leandro Goncalves took the riding title with a win in the final race of the 2010 season, edging Victor Lebron 60-59.

Richard Kohnhorst won the trainers title with 22, three more than Tom Amoss with 19.