Keeneland meet closes with drops in attendance, handle

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland wrapped up its 15-day spring meet Friday with a 15 percent decrease in daily all-sources wagering and a 7 percent decrease in daily attendance.

Figures released Friday evening by track staff showed gross wagering for the meet at $117,617,108, for a per-day average of $7,841,141. That number is down substantially from the respective totals of $138,033,442 and $9,202,229 wagered at the 15-day spring meet in 2014, which was the last here for Polytrack after eight years of the synthetic surface being used as the main racing surface. A new dirt surface was put into use last fall.

Attendance at a meet that began April 3 totaled 250,451, for a per-day average of 16,697. That number also was down from last year and from 2013, when the attendance record of 278,415 was set. In terms of attendance, this still was the fourth-highest total in track history.

Two of the top four attendance marks in track history were attained at the meet when 37,737 showed up April 18, one week after 37,193 were packed in April 11. The all-time attendance mark is 40,617, set in 2012.

Ontrack wagering averaged $1,067,166 per day, also down 15 percent.

Rainy weather was prevalent for much of the meet, which Keeneland president Bill Thomason blamed for some of the declines in a media release. The last four races on opening day were canceled because of torrential storms, believed to be the first such cancellation here.

Per-day purses averaged $588,192, which continues to rank among the highest in North America.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey, with 11 wins, were the leading owners for the 15th time, breaking a tie with T.A. Grissom for the most Keeneland meet titles ever. Todd Pletcher led all trainers with 10 wins, marking the fourth time he has won or tied for the title here, while two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier Castellano earned his first riding title with 21 wins.