With no big days around the region — with, in fact, no stakes scheduled in the region — mid-Atlantic handle fell by nearly 20 percent this past weekend, to a shade over $6 million, according to our latest HandleTrak report, which covers handle from October 26 and 27.
Charles Town, Laurel Park, The Meadowlands, Parx Racing and Penn National hosted six racing cards over the weekend, leading to an average of about $1 million in wagering per live racing program, according to Equibase charts.
One week after both tracks hosted big days full of state-bred stakes, Laurel and Charles Town both held relatively ordinary cards. And at both tracks, handle fell significantly. Charles Town’s wagering fell by more than 56 percent, to less than $700,000, while Laurel’s dropped by about one-third. Laurel nevertheless had the region’s single biggest day of wagering, with more than $1.4 million passing through the windows.
Penn National saw wagering on its live product increase by more than 23 percent to nearly $1.1 million. That made it the track’s second-best Saturday since the Penn Mile in early June. Meanwhile, the Meadowlands saw a modest uptick in business, while Parx Racing saw a small downturn.
For the weekend ahead, all racing eyes will turn to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup. That should lead to healthy simulcast import trade for the region’s tracks. It is also closing weekend for The Meadowlands.
REGIONAL HANDLE BY WEEKEND
