Mid-Atlantic handle plummeted this past weekend to its lowest level in the three months that The Racing Biz has issued its weekly HandleTrak report.
Collectively, Charles Town, Delaware, Monmouth, Penn National, and Parx handled a little more than $11 million for the weekend — down more than 31 percent from the busy Labor Day weekend. The tracks ran a total of seven cards over the weekend, down from nine the prior weekend and 10 the weekend before that, leading to a per-card average of $1.579 million. Though down from last week, that average actually exceeded the per-card tally from two weeks prior, in large measure because the additional cards run two weeks ag0 — two at Timonium and the Sunday Charles Town card — were among the region’s lowest-handling.
Every track but Parx saw business decline this week, with Monmouth taking the biggest hit. With no stakes on the schedule, the Jersey Shore track saw handle dip by more than 37 percent, to a shade over $6.4 million. Charles Town and Delaware both saw 16 percent declines — even though Delaware’s card featured the Grade 3 Kent, its last graded event of the season — while Penn National’s handle fell by about four percent.
Parx was the region’s lone track to see its handle rise, by about four percent, as a result of its annual Pennsylvania’s Day at the Races, a day of state-bred events featuring five stakes. Notably, the handle for the event rose by about six percent over last year, to a little more than $1.5 million.
REGIONAL HANDLE BY WEEKEND
