Tote crash stunts handle for Tampa Bay Derby week

While Tampa Bay Downs took the biggest hit from Saturday's tote outage, 13 of the 19 tracks that ran on the second Saturday of March in both 2024 and 2023 suffered declines, including both nighttime tracks.

It is unclear exactly when the tote outage occurred, but most in the industry were aware of it by the conclusion of the Grade 3 Florida Oaks on Saturday at Tampa when a tote delay bled into the Tampa Bay Derby (G3). The racetrack then made the decision to conduct its marquee and Kentucky Derby points race as a non-wagering event, which Domestic Product won in a thriller over Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) winner No More Time.

Tampa handled $12,432,176 on the 11-race card, though only 10 of those races offered wagering, and it cancelled the 12th race. That was a 28.8 percent decline from the previous year's $17,461,485 on 12 races.

Overall, Saturday handle was down 18.8 percent on 23 fewer races, so handle on a per-race basis was down only 1.6 percent. But Turfway Park, with first post at 5:55 p.m. EST, and Charles Town, first post 7 p.m., were down 31.1 percent and 38 percent, respectively, so the crash clearly adversely affected wagering from late Saturday afternoon through the end of the day.

Handle for the week ended Sunday was down 9.2 percent, and handle per race was down 4.1 percent. Tampa Bay Downs was down 20.7 percent for its four-day derby week, and its market share dropped from 13.5 percent last year to 11.7 ercent this year.

General manager Peter Berube said that he is asking Thoroughbred Racing Association to conduct an independent investigation of the tote incident, for which Roberts Communication took the blame in a joint statement with 1/ST Racing's Amtote International.