Shuffled Derby preps create peculiar betting handle scenario
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The rescheduled Blue Grass Stakes card at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington on Tuesday drew $20.38 million in bets, an incredibly strong showing for a Tuesday but down 30.4 percent compared to handle last year on the card, which was held on a Saturday, according to a DRF analysis of betting data from charts of races.
The Tuesday handle on Keeneland alone was more than three times the entire handle on the same Tuesday last year, when four tracks drew $6.48 million in bets, according to the analysis, and it was easily a record for any Tuesday card ever held in the U.S. Still, Keeneland’s handle last year on its 11-race Blue Grass card was a record $29.27 million, nearly $9 million higher than the Tuesday edition this year.
Keeneland moved the Blue Grass card – and its Friday card – after Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency earlier in the week due to forecasts of heavy rains throughout the latter half of the week and weekend. The weather would have likely depressed handle and attendance to a significant degree if Keeneland did not move the card. It would have also created transportation problems for Keeneland’s patrons and employees, many of whom are part-timers.
The rescheduled dates – plus the cancellation of the Oaklawn card on Saturday, also due to weather – led to handle increases at other tracks on Saturday, with Aqueduct posting a record for its 13-race Wood Memorial card and Santa Anita experiencing significant gains for its 11-race Santa Anita Derby card. Aqueduct was up 55.2 percent compared to its 11-race card last year, to a record $23.25 million, while Santa Anita was up 23.5 percent to $20.38 million on an 11-race card.
Overall on Saturday, handle dropped 25.1 percent from $92.32 million to $69.20 million. However, U.S. racetracks held only 101 races that day, compared to 132 races on the same Saturday last year. Per-race handle dropped 2 percent.
Combining the Saturday and Tuesday numbers, total handle was down 4.9 percent from $98.90 million to $93.96 million. Per race, however, handle was up 9.63 percent.
Handle on the Derby-prep cards at Aqueduct, Santa Anita, and Keeneland this year year totaled $64.58, while handle on the three cards last year was $61.22 million, a jump of 5.49 percent. Per-race handle was statistically identical due to the addition of two races to the Aqueduct card this year.
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