Average daily attendance increases at Arlington

Arlington Park wrapped up its meet on Sunday  (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com)

Arlington Park concluded its 94-day meet on Sunday with a 0.5 percent

increase in average daily attendance. It was the fourth consecutive year that

Arlington Park has shown an increase in average daily attendance.

Average daily attendance rose to 7,607 compared with 7,572 in 2004. Total

attendance was 715,023 versus 726,923 for the 96-day meet last year.

"Our main goal is always to build our on-track fan base and grow the sport,"

Arlington Park President Cliff Goodrich said. "With less purse money to work

with this year, it was a greater challenge to present a high-quality racing

product in an ever-growing competitive environment. Nevertheless, I think we

were able to offer competitive racing, especially with the increased focus on

our world-class turf course."

Complete wagering information will be released in the next few days.

Frank C. Calabrese and Wayne Catalano dominated the leading owner and trainer

standings. Calabrese earned his sixth consecutive title as the meet's leading

owner with 64 victories. It was more than five times the total for the

runner-up, Nancy A. Vanier, who had 11 wins.

Catalano surpassed his own single-season mark of 64 wins set in 2002 with 69

trips to the winner's circle. Chris Block and Christine Janks tied for second

with 31 wins each.

Shaun Bridgmohan was the meet's leading jockey with 132 victories in his

first season of competition at Arlington. Longtime Chicago-based reinsman Chris

Emigh was second in the standings with 82 wins.