Wagering records set at Breeders’ Cup
New wagering records were set on the Breeders’ Cup World
Thoroughbred Championships at Lone Star Park last Saturday. The
records consisted of total handle, Breeders’ Cup-only handle,
simulcast handle and international handle.
Total all-sources handle for the 12-race card was $120,863,117.
The previous mark was $120,631,437 set last year at Santa Anita.
A record total of $109,838,668 was wagered on the eight
Breeders’ Cup races. The figure breaks the old record of $108,578,049
set in 2002 at Arlington Park and is a 2.1 percent increase
compared to 2003.
A new record was also established for total simulcast handle,
as $107,536,392 was wagered on the full 12-race card.
Simulcasting accounted for 89 percent of the $120.8 million total
handle.
International simulcast handle, including common- and separate-pool
wagering, totaled $16,401,782. Canada wagered $4,930,127 in a
separate pari-mutuel pool. France led all common pool countries
with $2,120,643 on the eight Breeders’ Cup races and an
additional $1,409,666 in separate-pool wagering. International
handle represented 13.6 percent of the total handle.
The total pool for the Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 was $4,566,837,
an increase of 1.7 percent compared to 2003.
At Lone Star Park, the crowd of 53,717 wagered $13,326,726 on
the full 12-race program, and $11,274,066 on the eight Breeders’
Cup events.