Remington Park set an all-time pari-mutuel handle record in the 2020 Thoroughbred Season, concluded earlier this week. The 66-day session yielded total handle exceeding $100 million for the first time in the track's 32-year history.
All sources handle on Remington Park racing reached $101,313,352, an increase of 31.8 percent over the 2019 total of $76,885,108. The 2020 season marks the fourth consecutive Thoroughbred meeting of increased total handle for Remington Park.
The increase of $25,620,002 is a direct result of Remington Park's ability to safely continue a normal racing schedule throughout the pandemic year of 2020.
Remington Park conducted 66 Thoroughbred race dates, one fewer than 2019. The track also managed to reschedule three of the four postponed dates due to winter weather, and conduct 610 races, six more than the 2019 total. The Thoroughbred schedule extended to Dec. 22, the deepest run into the final month of the year in track history.
Horseplayers around the world responded to the reliability of Remington Park with export handle hitting $99,092,575 for an increase of 34.9 percent over the 2019 export handle figure of $73,472,573.
Remington Park's lone off-track wagering location, Thunder Roadhouse in Oklahoma City, wagered $230,854, 18 percent higher than the 2019 total of $195,661.
Due to safety protocols, Remington Park limited on-site attendance availability to only the ground, or track, level on live race dates. The smaller crowds wagered $1,989,923 which was down 38.1 percent from the 2019 on-track wagering of $3,216,874.
Average field size for the 2020 season was 8.62 with a total of 5,261 horses starting. The average is a decrease of one percent from the 2019 average of 8.71 per race when 5,259 horses competed.
Horsemen competed for total purses of $14,047,536 over the 66 dates, for an average daily amount of $212,841. The 2020 purse numbers are 17.2 percent lower compared to the 2019 total purses of $16,971,799. This year's purse amounts were affected by the shutdown of the Remington Park casino for two months in the spring.
Remington Park live racing will return on March 4 with the start of the 2021 American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season.
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