Severe Weather Surpresses Third Quarter Handle

Severe weather, be it excessive heat or thunderstorms, likely contributed to the decline in races and the United States handle for the third quarter of the year.

Through the end of September, total wagering on U.S. races was down nearly 6.7% to $3.055 billion and races run dropped about 6.9% to 9,443 compared with the third quarter of 2022, according to figures released Oct. 5 by Equibase. During the quarter, racetracks across the country were forced to cancel and reschedule racing programs due to Tropical Storm Hilary on the West Coast and severe thunderstorms and dangerous heat indexes in the Midwest, Northwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions in late July.

Thunderstorms were so prevalent during the Saratoga Race Course meet that the track was forced to pull 65 races off the turf. Saratoga’s all-sources handle of nearly $800 million was the third-largest in track history but still down 9% compared with the 2022 meet. Total wagering at Del Mar also was down 9.3% to $526.1 million compared to last year’s meet.

Average wagering per race day held steady at $2,533,555.

Total purses paid dropped slightly by 1.7% to more than $371.6 million, but average purses available per race day is up 10.7% to $323,596.

Year to date, total handle is down around 4.3% to nearly $9.13 billion while purses are tracking up slightly to $989.1 million compared to $982 million at this time last year.