Kentucky Derby 2013 Handle Second Highest
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
It was a memorable and rainy 139th running of the
$2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands as 151,616
enthusiastic
fans weathered the consistent, heavy rains at Churchill Downs to watch
Kentucky-bred Orb cover a sloppy track and win the garland of roses that
go to the winner of America’s greatest race.
Wagering from all-sources on
the Kentucky Derby race card totaled $184.6 million, a decrease of 1
percent from 2012’s all-time record, which totaled $187.0 million.
All-sources wagering on the Kentucky Derby race was
down 2 percent from $133.1 million to $130.5 million. Both were the
second-highest of all time.
On-track wagering on the
Derby decreased 7 percent from $12.3 million to $11.5 million, a result
of the steady, cold rain that continued throughout the day. On-track
wagering on the Derby program decreased 11 percent
from $23.7 million to $21.1 million.
Churchill Downs returned
$150.6 million to bettors, which amounts to 81.6 percent of total
wagering on the Derby Day race card. Additionally, purses earned from
the Derby Day race card approximated $8.2 million that
will be paid out to horsemen during the remainder of the 2013 racing
meets.
Finally, pari-mutuel taxes in
the amount of $0.7 million were generated from the Derby Day race card,
which will be paid to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Additionally, approximately
$1.6 million of handle from separate pools on the Derby Race has already
been reported. Total separate pool handle on the Derby Day race card
during 2012 totaled $1.4 million.
RACE COMMENTARY
“The Churchill Downs team congratulates all those involved with Orb and his victory in this year's 139th
running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands,” said Kevin
Flanery,
president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “Today’s second-highest
wagering, the commitment of our fans who didn’t let the rain dampen
their enthusiasm and an incredible performance by Orb again prove that
the Kentucky Derby is truly America’s greatest two-minutes
in sports. We are proud of the enduring tradition that is the Kentucky
Derby as well as the high-quality racing product we saw today by all the
horse owners, trainers and jockeys who participated.”
BUSINESS COMMENTARY
“Our preliminary and still
subject to change estimate of $4.5 – 6.5 million growth in EBITDA,
despite exceptionally dismal weather on both Opening Night and Kentucky
Derby Day, demonstrates the economic growth potential
of this iconic American spectacle,” said Robert L. Evans, Chairman and
CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated.
DIGITAL DERBY
For Derby Day,
TwinSpires.com, the country’s leading online wagering platform, handle
on all racing at Churchill Downs totaled a record $19.2 million, up 10
percent over $17.5 million in 2012. For the Derby race itself,
handle totaled a record $10 million on TwinSpires.com, up 10 percent
from $9.1 million in 2012.
Our new Kentucky Derby app, “DerbyMe,” was downloaded by 55,500 people.
Derby Nation on Facebook now
totals a record 258,000 people, up 24 percent over last year. Total
unique visitors to KentuckyDerby.com and KentuckyOaks.com over Derby
weekend totaled 2.3 million, up 35 percent over
last year. Of the over 250,000 unique visitors, 55 percent visited using
their mobile device.
DERBY WINNER
The Kentucky Derby victory by
Orb was the first success in the race for a team of owners made up of
members of two of Thoroughbred racing’s most respected families and a
Kentucky-born trainer who has already been enshrined
in racing’s Hall of Fame. Jockey Joel Rosario, the most successful rider
in the United States in 2013, scored his first victory in the race at
the age of 26.
The homebred son of Malibu
Moon is owned by the partnership of Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps
Stable, which is headed by Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps. Janney and Phipps
are cousins whose families operated prominent
American racing stables for generations, but their families had never
won the Kentucky Derby.
Orb is trained by Lexington,
Ky., native Claude “Shug” McGaughey, whose best Kentucky Derby finish
prior to this year’s renewal was a runner-up finish by favored Easy Goer
in 1989. McGaughey had competed in only Derby
since that loss.
The winner rallied from 16th
in the field of 19 3-year-old Thoroughbreds to win by 2 ½ lengths over
Golden Soul. Revolutionary finished a length back in third, with
Normandy Invasion
and Mylute a close third and fourth. The winning time for the 1 ¼-mile
distance was 2:02.89.
Orb is unbeaten in four races
in 2013, and his Kentucky Derby victory improved his career record to
five wins in eight races. The first-place purse of $1,414,800 boosted
his career earnings to $2,335,850.
DERBY WEEK WRAP-UP
All-sources handle for
Opening Night, Saturday April 27, through Derby Day, Saturday, May 4,
2013, was $258.5 million, up 2 percent over 2012’s $253.6 million.
Attendance for those five days was down 5 percent to 331,922
from 350,975 in 2012, with attendance declines on rainy Opening Night
and Derby Day accounting for the overall decline.
The fourth annual Taste of
Derby presented by Stella Artois, held on Thursday, May 2, at the
Kentucky Exposition Center, carried on its tradition of good taste with a
record crowd of almost 1,500.
Since its inception in 2010,
Churchill Downs has donated a total of $230,000 to hunger relief
organizations around the world through this event. Partial proceeds from
2013’s Taste of Derby will go to Dare to Care and
hunger relief organizations in areas represented by the participating
chefs.
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