Santa Anita sees mixed wagering results on opening day

Ontrack attendance and all-sources handle declined on Tuesday’s opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting compared to the corresponding day last year.

The track drew an announced crowd of 37,143 compared to 41,446 for a Monday opening day on Dec. 26, 2022. Ontrack handle on Tuesday was $2,568,874 compared to more than $3.16 million last year.

All-sources handle, which includes simulcast and account wagering options, was $18,302,550 on Tuesday compared to more than $26.3 million last year.

Tuesday’s all-sources handle was a record for an opening day on that day of the week in track history.

The last time the winter-spring season opened on a Tuesday, in 2017, the ontrack crowd was 46,413. The ontrack handle that day was more than $3.3 million and the all-sources handle was more than $17.2 million.

The decline in handle on Tuesday comes at a difficult time. The track has reduced stakes purses by more than $2 million and cut overnight purses slightly this winter because of lower handle figures this year.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.