Parimutuel handle through May down from last year, CHRB reports
All-sources handle in California trailed 2021 figures through May, according to a report at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.
Handle at Thoroughbred tracks, the harness meeting at Sacramento and the mixed meeting at Los Alamitos was a combined $1.29 billion through May 31, a decline of 2 percent compared to $1.31 billion in 2021.
Handle on Thoroughbred meetings at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita was $1.145 billion through May 31 compared to $1.148 billion in 2021.
In May, all-sources handle for all venues was $297.2 million, a decline of 8 percent from 2021, and a month with four fewer Thoroughbred programs than last year. The Thoroughbred meetings alone handled $268.5 million, a decline of 7 percent.
Racing board executive director Scott Chaney said at a January meeting that all-sources handle at all venues for the 2021 calendar year was $3.3 billion, which he said was the highest in a decade.