Attendance, handle decline at Saratoga

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) released handle and attendance figures

on Tuesday for the recently concluded Saratoga Race Course meeting.

All-sources handle, which includes wagers on Saratoga races both on-track and

from simulcast outlets nationwide, was $586,685,154, a slight decline of 0.3

percent from $588,351,964 last year. Year-over-year all-sources handle figures

dipped into negative territory as a result of the final two days of the meet

when wet conditions necessitated that eight scheduled turf races be moved to the

main track, which led to several scratches and reduced field sizes in those

races.

On-track handle on Saratoga races totaled $147,456,901, off 2.1 percent from

$150,637,998 last year.

Attendance for the meet was 867,182, a 3.9 percent decrease from 901,033 in

2012.

During the meet, average betting interests per race were 8.1 (3,383 total

over 420 races) compared to 8.4 (3,492 total over 417 races) in 2012. There were

200 turf races and 24 races taken off the turf and moved to the main track in

2013, compared to 197 on and 27 off in 2012.

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