Belmont Park leads Top 10 tracks by handle from June 2019

With no Triple Crown on the line in 2019, Thoroughbred handle in North America dropped 7.2% versus June of 2018, the steepest year-over-year decline of any month yet this year.

Overall, handle for the first six months of 2019 measured $5.6 billion, a drop of 3.2% against prior year.

This followed the results of strong performances on Kentucky Derby day and Preakness days in 2019.

While Belmont ranked first among all tracks with $280 million in handle, that also represented a $53 million plunge compared to 2018, down 16%. With Belmont Stakes down approximately $35.7 million, that accounts for 10.7% of the decline, meaning the rest of Belmont’s racing in June was down more than $17 million, or 5%.  Field size shrunk from 7.7 last year to 6.8 this year, perhaps contributing to those numbers.  

Santa Anita’s handle dropped more than $42 million year over year, from $130.6 million in 2019 to $87.9 million this year, a decline of 32.7%.  However, the southern California track ran 28% less races in June this year, racing only Friday-Sunday.

Churchill Downs and Monmouth Park posted notable gains in June 2019.

Churchill Downs’ handle increased $13 million, going from about $75 million to $88 million, good for a 17% year over year rise even with 10 less races. However, field size grew significantly from 7.6 in 2018 to 8.6 this year.

Monmouth Park meanwhile has upped its stakes schedule thanks to New Jersey state subsidies and attracted Maximum Security for his first race since the Kentucky Derby, a defeat to King for a Day in the Pegasus Stakes. Handle at Monmouth rose more than $10 million from last year.