Prairie Meadows handle dips slightly

Prairie Meadows concluded its 67-day 2018 Thoroughbred meet Aug. 11 with slight declines in total handle, average daily handle, and average handle per race, and a small uptick in average handle per starter.

Prairie grossed $32,623,098 this year compared to $33,003,364 during a 67-day 2017 race meet, a decline of 1.1 percent. Average daily handle fell from $492,588 to $486,912, average handle per race from $55,938 to $55,014 on 593 races this year compared with 590 last year. Average starters per race dropped to a distressing 6.87 from 7.09 as average handle per starter rose to $8,009 from $7,890.

Ramon Vazquez (131 wins) easily captured the jockey title while Karl Broberg was the runaway leading trainer with 82 wins. Broberg’s End Zone Athletics was leading owner with 60 wins.

Quarter Horse racing continues at Prairie Meadows through Oct. 13.