Lone Star handle up 9 percent

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - A surge in offtrack wagering helped Lone Star Park to a 9 percent increase in average daily handle during its 74-day Thoroughbred meet, which closed Sunday.

A 15 percent increase in handle on the track's races at simulcast outlets around the country was the key, since ontrack handle was down 7 percent. Lone Star handled an average of $2,610,249 a day on its live races, with offtrack patrons contributing $1,993,660, or 76 percent.

Purses at the meet averaged $240,000 a program. Attendance averaged 8,892 patrons a program, down 4 percent from the corresponding season in 2000.

Steve Asmussen notched his third straight Lone Star training title with 90 wins and stable earnings of $2.2 million. Corey Lanerie was the meet's leading rider with 80 wins, while Ken Murphy won the owner title with 17 wins.

* Lone Star has amended its Thoroughbred dates request for 2002, asking the Texas Racing Commission for two additional dates of racing, and pushing the opening of the meet a week earlier to April 4. This conflicts with a request from Sam Houston Race Park in Houston to run Thoroughbreds through April 6.