Saratoga meet expands to 40 days

On the heels of a successful 2009 race meet at Saratoga Race Course, the New

York Racing Association (NYRA) will expand the 2010 season by four days, a

revision that will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Next year's Saratoga meet will begin on July 23 and consist of 40

racing days. It will feature a Wednesday through Monday live racing schedule

that will go through Labor Day, September 6. Each day of the meet will include a

stake, and pending approval from the NYRA Board of Directors, the Coaching Club America Oaks

(G1), traditionally run at Belmont Park, will

shift to the first weekend at Saratoga.

The 2009 Saratoga meet was a tremendous success on a number of fronts. While

Equibase, the racing industry's official statistics-gathering organization,

reported a 12.5 percent decline in wagering nationwide in August, the Saratoga

season concluded down only 1.7 percent in all-sources handle, with a final

number of $513,837,237. In addition, attendance and on-track handle were down

just 2.1 and 2.2 percent, respectively.

"Going into this year's Saratoga meet, we predicted that wagering would

decline approximately five percent from last year. We greatly exceeded those

expectations," NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward said. "The expansion to four

racing days was a measured decision that reflects the overwhelming demand for

racing that we have from horsemen in Saratoga."

In addition to the encouraging handle and attendance figures from the 2009

Saratoga meet, horsemen entered a record number 3,500 stall applications for

1,800 stalls. As expected, average betting interests per race for the meet

increased 3.1 percent (8.38 vs. 8.13) and total betting interests increased 4.8

percent (3,058 vs. 2,919) from 2008.

"At a time when many tracks in the country had to cut back on racing days, we

not only continued to run six days a week at Saratoga, but did so with more

horses entered per race as compared to last year," Hayward said. "This reflects

the high demand for quality racing at Saratoga and is a very positive indicator

for expanding the 2010 meet."