Turfway Park records increases in Holiday Meet handle

Turfway Park ended its 2011 Holiday Meet with increases in both on-track and

all-sources handle compared to the same period in 2010.

On-track play on Turfway races rose 12.3 percent to $2,222,148. Handle from

all sources rose 13.2 percent to $45,645,266, boosted by a 14.4 percent increase

in out-of-state play.

Purses paid through the meet totaled $2,447,968, a 38.5 percent increase over

the 2010 meet. The average for purses paid daily rose 17.7 percent to $122,398.

Field size dipped from 10.2 starters per race during the 2010 Holiday Meet to

9.4 starters for the same period in 2011.

The track presented 20 days of live racing from December 1-31, three more

days than in 2010.

Victor Lebron earned his third Turfway riding title with 31 wins from 136

mounts, adding the award to titles earned in the Winter/Spring meets of 2008 and

2009.

Lebron's nearest competitors for the Holiday Meet were John McKee and Perry

Ouzts, tied for second with 18 wins from 102 mounts and 116 mounts,

respectively. Apprentice Alejandro Contreras was next with 16 wins from 111

mounts. Among the wins by Ouzts was the jockey's 5,800th career victory.

Mike Maker was the meet's leading trainer, saddling nine winners from 41

starters. The title was the ninth at Turfway for Maker and his fourth in a row,

a string that started with last year's Holiday Meet.

Lebron and Maker teamed up to win two of the meet's five stakes, taking the

My Charmer Stakes with La Gran Bailadora and the Gowell Stakes with Lotta Lovin.

Joe Woodard and Bill Connelly tied for second in the trainer's race with

eight wins each, Woodard from 28 starters and Connelly from 32 starters. Byron

Hughes was next with five winners from just nine well-spotted starters.

The leading owner title again went to Billy, Donna and Justin Hays, who saw

six winners from 26 starters. The Hays family partnership has three leading

owner titles at Turfway.

Four owners followed the Hays family with three wins each -- the partnership

of Smokey Lynne Bare and Ira P. Mersack (four starters); Ken and Sarah Ramsey

(14 starters); and Patchen Wilkes Farm LLC (eight starters).