Monmouth sees notable business increase on Father's Day card

Monmouth Park had a very successful Father’s Day from a business standpoint, with attendance, ontrack betting, and all-sources handle up markedly from last year.

Father’s Day is the second most heavily attended program of the Monmouth season after the Haskell Invitational card. Last year, announced attendance was 18,527 and $830,730 was wagered ontrack on Monmouth’s races. All-sources handle on Monmouth’s card was more than $4.1 million.

Whether because of last week’s introduction of sports betting, that the track ran 13 races this year compared with 11 in 2017, or because Monmouth held four stakes compared to one a year ago, Monmouth had its most successful non-Haskell Day in a long time on this year’s Father’s Day.

On Sunday, attendance was 23,768, up 28 percent; ontrack handle was $973,402, up 17 percent; and all-sources handle was more than $4.8 million, an increase of 18 percent.

Those figures do not count what was bet at Monmouth on sports or incoming simulcasts. Monmouth has yet to release any sports betting handle information.

That ontrack per-capita betting showed only an 8.6 percent decline, $44.83 per person in 2017 to $40.95 Sunday, suggests sports betting did not badly cannibalize what was wagered on its races, but attracted fresh money.