Churchill Downs handles $1 billion for first time ever

Churchill Downs joined exclusive company Thursday when it handled its billionth dollar on horse racing in 2025.

The record amount makes Churchill just the sixth track in North America to handle at least $1 billion. Saratoga also joined the club this year, and Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Gulfstream and Santa Anita are the other members.

Churchill already had blown past its previous annual record of $945 million earlier this meeting, and it was full steam ahead to $1 billion with $1.04 billion possible with three days to go.

This marks just the third year Churchill has even eclipsed $900 million in handle, and one of those years (2006) it hosted the Breeders' Cup. The other year was 2024. This also marks the seventh year that Churchill handled at least $1 million per race.

Churchill has nearly doubled its handle from the low-water marks of less than $600 million from 2012 to 2017. Not coincidentally, the company opened its Derby City Gaming historical horse racing facility in 2018 and the influx of dollars for purses, operations and marketing has turned Kentucky into a handle juggernaut.

With three race dates remaining, Churchill also is likely to break its record for number of turf races in a year. The record is 151, and it currently has had 147 with seven turf races carded. It also is on track to fall short of its record for total races by one. The record is 818, and it currently has had 781 with 36 races remaining.

The record handle for a track in a calendar year is the $1.988 billion handled in 2020 by Gulfstream Park. That record appears unbreakable for now considering that was the Covid year, and no track has come close to even $1.7 billion since.