Portland Meadows handle drops

Portland Meadows showed a decrease of more than 14 percent in all-sources average daily handle from last year for the 2010-11 race meeting, a drop caused in part from the closing of the nation’s largest bet-taker, New York City Off-Track Betting, during the meet. the Portland Meadows meeting began Oct. 4, 2010 and ended April 6.

The all-sources handle for the track’s 64th season of live racing averaged $673,215. as compared with $784,506 last year, according to a release from Portland Meadows, which is owned by MI Developments.

The track’s scheduled 78-day season was cut to 73 days with five weather-related cancellations this year. Last year Portland Meadows ran for 78 days. The average number of starters per race dropped slightly from 7.51 last year to 7.45.

“We lost our most valuable partner with the closure of the NYC OTB midway through our season,” said the track’s general manager, William Alempijevic, in a release. “We were not able to overcome that loss.”

Despite the decrease, Portland Meadows has more than doubled its average daily handle since 2005-06, when it averaged $263,044.

On the track, jockey Joe Crispin won his second straight riding title and fourth championship in five years, winning 127 races from 451 mounts. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who won with 51 percent of his starters, captured his first Portland Meadows title with 49 winners from 96 starters. Baxter Andruss won the Quarter Horse training title with 15 winners.

Portland Meadows is open year-round for simulcast wagering. Its nine-hole infield golf course will open in May.