Lone Star all-source handle record topped

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Lone Star Park had handled more than $7.6 million from all sources by 8 p.m. on Friday, crushing its previous record of $7.2 million with three more hours of incoming simulcasts being offered to patrons. The track also set a live handle record on Friday, one day before it was to host the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.

Handle on the 11-race card was $6,365,758, topping the mark of $6,076,969 the track set on May 28, 2001, during a program of stakes called Lone Star Million Day.

"We had the greatest day in Lone Star Park history," Darren Rogers, a spokesman for Lone Star, said on Friday. "It was a great warm up to the day we've all been waiting for, and we can't wait to eclipse it again Saturday."

Lone Star drew a crowd of 25,015 on Friday, and on-track, patrons bet a record $2,373,965 on the live program. The previous mark of $1,723,177 was set on April 19, 1999. Another $1.4 million was bet on incoming simulcasts at Lone Star through 8 p.m.

Off-track, handle on Lone Star's live races on Friday was $3,991,793, which ranked fourth all-time in that category behind the $4,512,768 the track handled on its races offtrack on May 28, 2001.

Lone Star's previous all-source handle record of $7,218,982 was sent on Kentucky Derby Day in 1999.