Monmouth: Handle rises; López, González repeat meet titles

Spurred in part by a record handle on Haskell Stakes day, Monmouth Park continued its upward trend with increases in both total and on-track handle for the fourth straight year, and jockey Paco López and trainer Claudio González were repeat winners of their respective titles as the 50-day meet came to an end on Sunday.

Total average handle was $4,251,965, a 5.4 percent increase over last year’s average of $4,032,648 during a 51-day meet.

On-track handle averaged $352,939, a 3.7 percent increase over last year’s average of $340,257.

In addition, the total handle of $212,598,246 for the 50 days was an increase of nearly $7 million over last year’s 51-day total handle of $205,665,035.

The overall on-track handle also increased despite one less day of live racing, finishing at $17,646,973 compared to $17,353,093 in 2023.

“It’s a testament to the owners, trainers and the quality of racing that we were able to show an increase in handle once again,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development, lessee and operator of Monmouth Park.

Haskell day produced a record total handle of $21,748,294 for the 14-race card, eclipsing the record set a year earlier. The crowd of 38,976 was the largest for Haskell day since 2015.

On the racing front, López won his 11th Monmouth Park riding title overall and 10th in the past 12 years, finishing with 76 winners to 65 for runner-up Jairo Rendon.

González won his third straight Monmouth Park training title, holding a 34-32 advantage over Mario Serey Jr.

Robert Reidy, a Rumson resident, earned his first leading owner’s title with 14 winners from 66 starts. Reidy has been an owner since 2010.

Thoroughbred racing in the state shifts to East Rutherford starting Friday for the boutique Monmouth-at-Meadowlands all-turf meet. Live racing will run from Friday through Oct. 18 on Fridays and Saturdays, with six-race cards starting at 7 p.m. EDT.