Solid handle figures chip away at purse-account deficit

DEL MAR, Calif. – All-sources handle at the Del Mar summer meeting has shown a healthy gain over the corresponding meeting in 2017 and has allowed the racetrack to reduce a significant deficit in its purse account, a track official said on Thursday.

But the deficit could take several years to eliminate and is the primary reason the track has been unable to increase purses, according to Mike Ernst, the track’s chief financial officer.

Ernst said the deficit “is still north of $1 million” but did not go into specifics.

Through Aug. 19, all-sources handle had increased 8.2 percent compared with 2017.

“We’ve recovered about 10 percent of the debt,” Ernst said. “We’ve made some progress.

“We want to keep purses up high and chip away at the deficit for five or 10 years. We’re trying to take a long-term view.”

In 2016, Del Mar cut purses in advance of the summer meeting because of the deficit and reduced purses for some races by 5 percent with two weeks remaining in the season because of lower-than-projected handle. In subsequent years, handle has rebounded.

This summer, field size has increased at Del Mar. Through Thursday, fields have averaged 8.69 runners per race compared with 8.43 runners through a similar time last year. The entire 2017 summer meeting averaged 8.58 runners.

Field sizes are typically strong in the final week of the season as the track emphasizes turf racing and owners and trainers seek to give horses a final start before racing shifts to Los Alamitos, which does not have a turf course.

The meeting concludes on Sept. 3.