Saratoga handle up 17 percent, with an asterisk
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Saratoga meet reaches the halfway point Wednesday, and New York Racing Association officials can only hope business remains as robust during the second half of the summer as it was the first.
All-sources handle through the first 19 days of the 40-day meet was $362,577,261, a 17.3 percent increase over the $309,125,934 handled through the same time period of 2019.
Now, an apples-to-apples comparison is less than ideal for several reasons. First, during the first four weeks of 2019, Saratoga had to cancel a Saturday card due to heat and canceled the last seven races of a Thursday program due to the impact of heavy rains on the main track. Second, during the first 19 days of this year’s meet, Saratoga has already conducted its two biggest programs – the Whitney and the Travers.
Handle on last Saturday’s 12-race Travers card was $39,464,558. The same card last year was Whitney Day, which handled $31,835,863. Last year, when the Travers was held on Aug. 25, all-sources handle was $52,129,344 which included $7,625,767 of ontrack handle.
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Ontrack handle is virtually non-existent at this meet with no fans allowed on track. Ontrack handle is only wagers placed by instate residents through NYRA Bets.
Through the first 19 days this year, there have been 194 races run with an average field size of 7.56. There have been 95 turf races run, with only five taken off the turf due to weather. Last year, through the same time period, there were 183 races run with an average field size of 8.03. There were 80 turf races run, with 20 scheduled turf races transferred to the dirt.
Todd Pletcher, the 13-time leading trainer at Saratoga, is leading the standings with 16 wins, one more than Christophe Clement, two more than Mike Maker, with Chad Brown, the two-time defending leading trainer in fourth with 13 wins.
In the jockey standings, Irad Ortiz Jr. leads his brother Jose 32-31 with Joel Rosario in third with 28.
Michael Dubb leads all owners with six wins, one more than Three Diamonds Farm and Klaravich Stables.