Less racing, no Triple Crown result in decline in business at Belmont Park
With one fewer week of racing and the lack of a Triple Crown opportunity at the Belmont Stakes, all-sources handle was predictably down at the 2016 Belmont spring-summer meet.
All-sources handle was $620,612,113, down 4.1 percent from the 2015 figure of $647,740,050. Ontrack handle was $82,620,672, down 6.4 percent from the 2015 figure of $88,293,037.
There were 54 days of racing in 2016, five fewer than in 2015. A total of 514 races were run this year, compared to 553 in 2015. There were 247 turf races run this year, 264 last year. There were 22 races taken off the turf this spring-summer meet, compared to just 11 last year.
Average field size in 2016 was 7.92 horses per race, up over the 7.67 in 2015.
When you consider that all-sources handle for the Belmont Stakes was down $37 million compared to last year, all-sources handle for the remaining days of the meet was actually up. This year, all-sources handle on the Belmont Stakes was $99.4 million, compared to $136.7 million in 2015, when American Pharoah was going for - and achieved - the Triple Crown.