Kentucky Downs: Handle goes up 5% to record $83.7 million

Even with a takeout increase that was a target of criticism beforeopening day, Kentucky Downs brought in more betting dollars in 2023 than it hadin any of its previous meets.

Ending Wednesday, the seven days of racing spread across the past two weeksattracted a record, all-sources handle of $83,741,006, according to data compiledfrom Equibase by Horse Racing Nation. That was up 5.0 percent from lastyear’s old record of $79,745,908.

Per each of a track-high 76 races, the average handle still wasup to $1,101,855, a 0.9 percent increase from last year. It was down, however,5.0 percent from the record average of $1,159,354 per race in 2021.

At a rate of 10.4 starters per race, field sizes were almostflat, down 0.2 percent from 2022. Each betting interest still carried anaverage $105,867, up 2.8 percent from last year but down 7.1 percent from twoyears ago.

Overall, the numbers continued their upward trajectory. Sincethe five-day meet of 2019, the number of races is up 52 percent, but bettingdollars have doubled.

The handle-to-purse ratio also continued its recovery fromthe COVID season of 2020, when the equivalent of 20.6 percent in bets went to payprize money for the races. This year the record purse total of more than $25million was equal to 29.9 percent of the handle.

During the seven days it held races this summer, KentuckyDowns accounted for 25.6 percent of the Thoroughbred betting market across theU.S. and Canada. That was up from last year’s 23.5 percent, but it still was a longway from the 30.0 percent during 2020 COVID restrictions that reduced thenumber of tracks that were open at the time.

The ongoing increase in betting revenue came despite thetrack’s decision to raise handle by a single percentage point across the board foreach of its betting pools. Kentucky Downs executives said it was done to meetthe rising costs of putting on the annual meet, including a first-time bill fromthe Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

The takeout spike prompted a social-media call forhorseplayers to boycott Kentucky Downs this summer. In the end, the track grossedenough in betting dollars to beat the year-over-year inflation rate of 3.7percent that the government reported for last month.