Kentucky Oaks wagering sets record

Wagering on the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Friday was a record $17.47 million, according to a chart of the race, a 18 percent gain on wagering on the race last year.

The strong wagering figure for the Oaks this year was a $2.4 million handle jump from the record set in 2015, when $15.05 million was bet on the race. It was also part of a record-setting full card for the Oaks, with total handle on the 13 races on Friday coming in at $55.8 million, a 14 percent increase over the total handle on the 13-race card last year, according to Churchill.

The wagering figure for the 2018 Oaks includes all horizontal bets ending in the Oaks, but it does not include betting in the future-wager pools that Churchill offered in the weeks leading up to the race.

The Oaks was won by Monomoy Girl, the second choice in the race at 5-2. Favored Midnight Bisou was third at 2.30-1.

A total of 14 horses started in this year’s Oaks, the maximum allowed, the same as last year and in 2015.

Handle was up in every pool offered for this year’s Oaks. The win, place, and show pools were up 14.6 percent, while the superfecta pool was up 20.7 percent. Handle on the pick five ending in the Oaks was up 60.2 percent, from $758,249 last year to $1,214,898 this year.

Ontrack handle for the entire card was $10.9 million, up 17 percent over last year’s on-track figure. The ontrack figures last year were depressed by cold and misty weather on the Oaks day card.

Total attendance at Churchill on Friday, on a seasonal but overcast and somewhat humid day, was 113,510, according to the track. It was the fifth-largest Oaks day crowd, Churchill said, with the record being the 124,589 reported by Churchill for the 2015 Oaks.