Total handle falls 28.1 percent at Aqueduct spring meet

All-sources handle at the Aqueduct spring meet was $105,702,625, a decrease of 28.1 percent from the $147,032,499 handled during the 2023 spring meet, according to statistics released by the New York Racing Association.

There were 16 days of racing and 136 races conducted at this year’s spring meet, compared to 19 days and 162 races held in 2023. Average daily handle was $6,606,414, a 14.6 percent decline from the $7,738,553 averaged a year ago.

All-sources handle on the 11-race Wood Memorial card on April 6 was $15,318,421, down 23.3 percent from last year’s figure of $19,984,716.

In an attempt to conserve the turf course because racing will be held at Aqueduct for six of the final eight months of the year, NYRA delayed the start of turf racing by two weeks. Thus, there were only 17 turf races conducted this spring compared to 40 last spring.

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Average field size at this spring’s meet was 6.88 horses per race, down 3.2 percent from last year’s figure of 7.10.

Beginning Thursday, NYRA will conduct the Belmont spring meet at Aqueduct. There will be 31 days of racing at Aqueduct, with the four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival to be held June 6-9 at Saratoga.

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