TurfPublicists: SOLID GAIN IN TOTAL WAGERING THROUGH WEEK THREE AT SPA

Monday, August 6, 2012

Contact: Dan Silver

SOLID GAIN IN TOTAL WAGERING THROUGH WEEK THREE AT SPA

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Total wagering on races at Saratoga Race Course continues up compared to 2011 through three weeks (16 days) of the meet, according to The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA).

Attendance for the first three weeks of the meet was 319,806, a 1.9 percent decrease from 325,909 in 2011.

On-track handle totaled $48,208,874, up .7 percent from $47,896,094 last year.

Wagering downstate at Belmont Café and the Aqueduct simulcast center was $8,849,611 for a combined on-track handle of $57,058,485, up 2.2 percent from $55,835,011 in 2011.

All-sources handle, which includes wagers on Saratoga races both on-track and from simulcast outlets nationwide, was $233,380,247, up 7.6 percent from $216,977,479 last year.

Average betting interests per race were 8.5 (1,411 total) compared to 8.6 (1,372 total) in 2011. There have been 73 turf races and 13 races taken off the turf and moved to the main track, compared to 65 on and 12 off in 2011.

-30-

* 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 has been one Giveaway Day in 2012, and there was one through the first three weeks (16 days) of the 2011 meet.