Santa Rosa's average daily handle drops

Average daily handle at the Sonoma County Fair meet in Santa Rosa, Calif., fell from last year’s shorter meet, a decline that accelerated during the last five days of the 15-day meet, when there was no fair to accompany the racing.

Last year, the Sonoma County Fair meet ran for 10 days during the fair itself. This year’s meet began on July 28 and ended on Sunday.

Daily average all-sources handle during the first 10 days of the meet dropped 15 percent from last year’s entire meet, from $1,997,549 to $1,688,332, according to fair figures. Daily ontrack handle during that period dropped 17 percent, from $376,185 to $313,175.

During the last five days of the meet, daily all-sources handle fell 17.5 percent from last year’s meet, and ontrack handle declined 44 percent. The decline occurred despite estimated attendance remaining about the same during the racing-only portion of the meet.