Despite unseasonably cool temperatures, the lack of a popular contender, and a quirky wet track, wagering on the Kentucky Derby and its supporting card at Churchill Downs on Saturday set records, with total betting surpassing $200 million for the first time on a North American race card, according to the race charts.
The race portion of the Kentucky Derby broadcast on NBC late Saturday afternoon posted a 10.5 overnight rating and a 23 share, the second-best overnight rating in the past 25 years, the network said Sunday morning.
Total handle on the Kentucky Derby and the supporting 14-race card at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday were both records, according to charts of the races, with total wagering on Saturday breaking a milestone mark of $200 million
Both houses of Congress have approved a budget bill that will allow for an increase in the number of nonagricultural visas issued this fiscal year, a provision considered important to the racing industry.
An effort to pass legislation in Florida dramatically altering the state’s gambling landscape died on Tuesday when legislators dissolved a conference committee that was set up to resolve the vast differences between bills that passed separately in the House and the Senate.
Epicharis, the Japanese-bred 3-year-old who would have been eligible to run in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, was confirmed as a starter for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 10, it was announced late Tuesday night.
A bipartisan federal budget agreement reached Sunday night includes language that raises a cap on the number of nonagricultural worker visas that can be issued this year, quelling concerns in the racing industry, at least temporarily, that the federal government would cut back on a source of visas critical to backstretch workers.
Parx Racing is changing the conditions of one of its June stakes in the hope of drawing a larger, more competitive field.
The board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association approved three new directors at a meeting Thursday, a move that expands the board by two seats, according to the organization.
Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $7.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, up $4.5 million from the same quarter last year despite a slight drop in total revenue, according to financial statements released Wednesday.
