INGLEWOOD, Calif. (July 13, 2008) - Hollywood Park broke the $20-million mark in handle on its five major days for the first time during its 70th anniversary meeting, but was unable to buck a national trend as overall handle at the 60-day session was down 1.8 percent.
Handle averaged a record $11.9 million at the 63-day Spring/Summer Meet in 2007, compared to $11.7 million in 2008.
"The tracks across the country have struggled to maintain their 2007 averages," track president Jack Liebau said. "We were up against record figures and I think we did as well as we could have hoped in these tough economic times."
A record $29,773,657 was wagered on Kentucky Derby Day, the highest handle of the meet and the largest single-day handle in California to date in 2008. Preakness Day handle was $21,049,983 and Belmont Day handle was a record $25,721,762.
American Oaks/CashCall Mile Day generated a record handle of $25,137,676, the highest in track history excluding Breeders' Cup and Triple Crown days. It is the sixth highest in history overall.
While the on-track average of $1.5 million was down 9.7 percent and the off-track average in Southern California of $2.7 million was down 10.4 percent, advance deposit wagering continued to grow with a daily average of $2.1 million - up 14.6 percent from 2007.
"Account wagering on races at Hollywood Park no doubt benefited from the standoff between TrackNet and the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group because other signals were not available to account wagering providers," Liebau said.
Purses averaged $447,329, while fields averaged 8.3 horses per race - 8.5 on Cushion Track and 7.7 on the Lakeside Turf Course.
Jockey Rafael Bejarano, who shifted his tack to Southern California during the 2007 Autumn Meet, rode 56 winners to win his first Hollywood Park riding title. John Sadler won his first Spring/Summer training title with 30 wins. He captured his first Hollywood Park training title at the 2007 Autumn Meet.
Sadler and Bejarano also led in stakes wins with seven and ten, respectively. Sadler saddled three on Hollywood Gold Cup Day and four overall that weekend.
Everest Stables Inc. topped the owners' standings with 14 wins, while Zenyatta was voted Horse of the Meet in the annual Media Poll.
View the meet attendance and handle figures
