Handle picked up in the mid-Atlantic during the first weekend of February, according to our HandleTrak report. The region’s four operating tracks handled a total of more than $5.4 million for five cards, an average of nearly $1.1 million per card and an increase of more than 14 percent over the prior weekend.
The good news continued for Penn National. The track, which announced that in January it had, for the first time in its history, registered a month in which every day exceeded $1 million in wagering, on Saturday had a more productive day than its bigger brethren elsewhere in the region. The track handled more than $1.2 million on Saturday, more than any other track in the region and 13 percent more than it had the prior weekend.
The top gainers for the weekend, however, were Parx Racing and Charles Town. At Parx, weekend wagering rose by nearly a third, to more than $2 million; the track, alone among the region’s currently operating facilities, runs both Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, Charles Town saw its Saturday handle grow by more than 26 percent, to nearly $1.1 million.
Laurel, which carded four stakes a week ago but none on Saturday, saw handle decline by 15 percent.
Through racing scheduled for February 4, two tracks have wagers with carryovers. Laurel’s Jackpot Pick 5 sports a $4,988 carryover, while Parx Racing’s Pick 6 has a carryover of $1,169.
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