Hollywood handle spikes at Autumn meet

Hollywood Park showed appreciable gains in all sources handle and field size

during the 2012 Autumn meet.

The live portion of the 24-day season concluded December 15 and was followed

by seven days of simulcasts.

Average daily handle was up 13.8 percent. The average per day was $9.15

million, compared to $8.42 million a year ago.

Helping spur this increase was a massive boost in advance deposit wagering (ADW).

The total daily average ADW handle ($2,348,761) was up 27.6 per cent over 2011

with $1,414,607 of that ADW handle generated in Southern California.

The average daily Southern California attendance rose 3.1 per cent, improving

from 9,338 in 2011 to 9,630 in 2012. The average daily on-track handle jumped

from $792,464 during the 2011 Autumn meet to $845,239 in 2012, an increase of

6.7 percent.

Field size rose for a third consecutive year, increasing to 8.19 starters per

race in 2012 from 7.89 in 2011 and 7.33 two years earlier. The recent Autumn

meet finished with a flourish, attracting 228 entrants for 21 races over the

final two days.

"We're very pleased with the increases in handle and field size," Hollywood

Park president Jack Liebau said. "The numbers are a reflection of how the

business has changed throughout the country with the sizable growth in advance

deposit wagering."

The 2013 Spring/Summer meet at Hollywood Park, which will celebrate the

track's 75th anniversary, begins April 25 and will continue through July 14.

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