Big weekend at Saratoga Race Course helps soften declining numbers
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Clear, sunny skies helped boost attendance over Travers weekend at Saratoga Race Course, offsetting a general decline in on-track attendance and handle by at least five percent.
Attendance and handle were each down 10.7 percent after week 3 of the racing season from 2009 figures. They are now off only 5.3 and 6.0 percent, respectively.
More numbers relased by New York Racing Association:
· Attendance for the five full weeks of the meet (30 days, Days 5 through 34) was 667,171, down 5.3 percent from 704,423 for the first 30 days of the 2009 meet, with a daily average of 22,239 compared to 23,481. (*See note on attendance below.)
· On-track handle for the four weeks totaled $88,817,179, down 6.0 percent from $94,468,366 for 2009’s first five weeks, with a daily average of $2,960,573 compared to $3,148,946.
· All-sources handle (which combines wagers on Saratoga races both on-track and from simulcast outlets nationwide) for the five weeks was $408,145,326, down 1.7 percent from $415,187,788 in 2009, with a daily average of $13,604,844 compared to $13,839,593.
Daily average attendance for the full 34 days of the meet (including the four extra days, July 23-26) is 21,754, average on-track handle is $2,908,825, and average all-sources handle is $13,514,208. Average betting interests per race for the meet are 8.33 compared to 8.28 in 2009 with 150 turf races and 24 taken off the turf.
* Note: Attendance figures for Giveaway Days include patrons who pay multiple admissions to obtain more than one giveaway item, either at the track entrance or at the multiple admissions area inside the track. There have been three Giveaway Days in 2010 and three through the first four weeks of the 2009 meet.
"We're pointing to a big finish with more great weather, strong midweek racing cards, Saturday's Woodward and Forego, and our premiere stakes for two-year-olds, the Spinaway and the Three Chimneys Hopeful, closing out the meet on Sunday and Monday," said NYRA president and CEO Charles Hayward in a press release.
