Memorial Day Weekend + The Industry
 

Equibase released data today showing wagering performance in May for the entire industry. Overall, the industry was down -8.27% but is slightly ahead of the -8.37% for the entire year.

I ran some numbers (using pool sizes, so somewhat crude, although not too bad) on Memorial Day weekend (Thursday thru Monday) and despite a lot of ups/downs with individual tracks, handle was slightly-up at about 0.45% overall for the weekend. So, perhaps we're turning a corner and with some good momentum, and are in position to have a good Belmont weekend.

Yet Monmouth up huge in the face of it. :D

Betting continues to drop
By Matt Hegarty
Handle on U.S. Thoroughbred races in May dropped by 8.3 percent compared to the same month last year, according to figures released on Friday by Equibase, a decline that indicates racing is continuing to struggle even as the economy shows indications of regaining some strength.

The decline, from $1.38 billion in May of last year to $1.26 billion this year, or $120 million, was influenced somewhat by the running this year of the Kentucky Oaks on April 30, compared to a May date last year. Handle on the Oaks card this year was $36 million, well above a typical Friday handle.

Monmouth being up certainly pinches other tracks. With the same amount of money in play (~$240 million over Memorial Day weekend), it's about market share.

Of tracks who ran the same amount of days or less, here are the ones who increased their market share:

ARP - Arapahoe
CBY - Canterbury
DEL - Delaware
FE - Fort Eries
FL - Finger Lakes
LA - Los Alamitos
LNN - Lincoln
MTH - Monmouth (1 less day)
PHA - Philadelphia
SRP - Sun Ray Park
WO - Woodbine

Arapahoe had a hell of a card

50-percent increase for them... of course, it's all relative.

Available on TS and TVG among others for the first time. Their racecaller is on PA, seems like a genuinely good guy.

His name is Craig Braddick... he filled in for me while I was at Gulfstream Park this winter.