Kentucky Oaks handle sets record at $19.3 million

Handle on the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday set a record at $19.3 million, despite the negative forces battering the industry over the past several months.

The Oaks handle was up 10.4 percent compared with the record for the race set last year, which itself was up 18.1 percent compared with handle on the race in 2017. Churchill Downs has been aggressively marketing the lead-up events to the Derby over the past 10 years, and those efforts have paid dividends for the Oaks.

Total wagering on the entire 13-race card also set a record at $60.2 million, up 8 percent over total betting on the 13-race card last year, according to Churchill.

While handle was up across the board in the single-race pools for the Oaks, handle for the pick three and pick four bets ending in the Oaks was down, by 9.5 percent and 14.8 percent, according to charts of the races. Handle for the pick five and pick six were up, at 12.6 percent and 9.1 percent.

Both the Oaks this year and last year had 14 horses each, the maximum.

The Oaks handle increased despite widespread criticism of the racing industry over the past three months due to a spate of deaths earlier this winter at Santa Anita Park in Southern California. The racing industry has announced several initiatives since criticism about the deaths peaked in March, including plans by Churchill Downs to bolster some of its own efforts to reduce racing injuries.

The Oaks itself resurrected fears of another catastrophic injury when the filly Positive Spirit was jostled leaving the starting gate and clipped heels, sending her tumbling to the track and spilling her rider, Manny Franco. However, the horse quickly regained her footing and was corralled by outriders, and vets said after the race that the horse appeared to be sound, though she would undergo additional examinations. Franco also escaped serious injury.

Attendance for Oaks Day, which was conducted under partly cloudy skies after morning rain, was 105,719, according to Churchill, down significantly from the 113,510 reported by Churchill last year.