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Economic Indicators: Record Breeders’ Cup Handle Leads Slight Wagering Increases In November

Equibase, North American racing's official database, released Monday its November 2021 statistics for the industry's economic indicators, including field size, wagering, and other data, along with year-to-date and 2019 and 2020 numbers. The database distributes 2020 and 2021 numbers and includes 2019's data for comparisons to pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers.

Led by a record handle at the Del Mar-hosted Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 5 and 6 ($183,260,127, a two-day record for the championship event), November's total wagering numbers were up 7.40 percent over the same month in 2020. Part of the reason for the increase could be the return of in-person attendance to the Breeders' Cup, which was severely restricted at Keeneland in 2020.

When Del Mar last hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2017, it posted a then-record handle of $166,077,486. The new mark is 10.4 percent higher than that.

Compared to 2019, this November's handle was only 0.62 percent higher, though average wagering per race day sustained a solid 12.04 percent bump between November of 2019 and November of 2021.

Though purses and race days are both up over 25 percent from the same month in 2020, average daily wagering saw a sharp decrease of 17.33 percent, while the year-to-date figures for average wagering are also down nearly 10 percent. That contrasts sharply with the numbers from 2019, which put average wagering up over 20 percent from the first 11 months of 2019 to the same period in 2021.

The discrepancy could be explained by the increased attention horse racing experienced during the harshest months of the pandemic in 2020; this year's return to a more normal sports schedule and in-person activities could definitely play a role in where wagering dollars have been spent.

November 2021 vs. November 2020
Indicator	November 2021	November 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$961,813,331	$895,546,532	+7.40%
U.S. Purses	$117,678,625	$92,095,830	+27.78%
U.S. Race Days	291	224	+29.91%
U.S. Races	2,440	1,945	+25.45%
U.S. Starts	18,782	16,236	+15.68%
Average Field Size	7.70	8.35	-7.79%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,305,200	$3,997,976	-17.3`3%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$404,394	$411,142	-1.64%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2020
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$11,409,728,296	$10,171,153,164	+12.18%
U.S. Purses	$1,106,048,142	$812,236,796	+36.17%
U.S. Race Days	3,821	3,073	+24.34%
U.S. Races	31,415	25,692	+22.28%
U.S. Starts	230,147	203,122	+13.30%
Average Field Size	7.33	7.91	-7.34%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$2,986,058	$3,309,845	-9.78%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$289,466	$264,314	+9.52%

2019 Comparisons:

November 2021 vs. November 2019
Indicator	November 2021	November 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$961,813,331	$955,843,009	+0.62%
U.S. Purses	$117,678,625	$115,756,315	+1.66%
U.S. Race Days	291	324	-10.19%
U.S. Races	2,440	2,730	-10.62%
U.S. Starts	18,782	21,839	-14.00%
Average Field Size	7.70	8.00	-3.78%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,305,200	$2,950,133	+12.04%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$404,394	$357,273	+13.19%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2019
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$11,409,728,296	$10,326,096,192	+10.49%
U.S. Purses	$1,106,048,142	$1,101,605,086	+0.40%
U.S. Race Days	3,821	4,173	-8.44%
U.S. Races	31,415	34,038	-7.71%
U.S. Starts	230,147	254,992	-9.74%
Average Field Size	7.33	7.49	-2.21%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$2,986,058	$2,474,502	+20.67%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$289,466	$263,984	+9.65%

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

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Santa Anita Brings Back ‘Ship & Win’ Program For Upcoming Winter/Spring Meeting

As part of a continuing effort to attract new horses and thus help to ensure better field size, Santa Anita Park will again be offering significant bonuses to horsemen bringing out of state horses to run at Santa Anita's upcoming Winter/Spring Meet which opens on Dec. 26.

Eligible horses will receive a $5,000 bonus as well as purse money 35 percent above their allotted purse percentage for one start. Horses who become eligible at the 2021 Del Mar Fall Meet will also be eligible for Ship & Win bonuses for their first start at Santa Anita's Winter/Spring Meet.

The $5,000 bonus will also apply to any stakes horse that meets Ship & Win eligibility guidelines, but those horses will not be eligible for the 35 percent purse increase.

“All of us have been gratified at the success of the Ship & Win program this year, at both Del Mar and here at Santa Anita,” said Chris Merz, Santa Anita Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. “We're certainly hoping to continue to attract more out of state horses this winter and spring and given the significant amount of money available, this has certainly incentivized our horsemen to go out and procure additional racing prospects.”

Santa Anita's Winter/Spring Meet Condition Book One is available online at santaanita.com. For additional information regarding Santa Anita's 2021-22 Ship & Win Program, please visit our website or call the Santa Anita Racing Office at (626) 574-RACE.

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Resurgent Kent Desormeaux Voted Jockey Of The Week

Veteran jockey Kent Desormeaux closed the Del Mar Bing Crosby meet on a high note by winning two graded stakes during the track's turf festival. His achievements earned the title of Jockey of the Week for Nov. 22 through Nov. 28. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

The holiday weekend card featured seven stakes races on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Riding for trainer Phil D'Amato on Friday, Desormeaux was aboard the stretch-running Say the Word for the first time in the G2 Hollywood Turf Cup. Say the Word was last in the field of seven for the first mile of the 1 1/2-mile contest for 3-year-olds and up. Desormeaux swung Say the Word to the outside at the top of the stretch and in a drive to the wire overtook his stablemate Acclimate to win by a length in 2:27.62. The win was Desormeaux's first in the Hollywood Turf Cup.

Trainer John Shirreffs gave a leg up to Desormeaux on Beyond Brilliant in Saturday's G1 Hollywood Derby. In the field of 14, Desormeaux was riding Beyond Brilliant for the third time. From an inside post, the duo made every pole a winning one finishing the nine furlong test over Santin by a neck in 1:48.84.

“All the credit for this win goes to the barn,” said Desormeaux to the Del Mar publicity office. “They've done wonders with this horse the past month. When I rode him last time (10/31) at Santa Anita, he was a handful to control. Today he was easy.”

The victory was the first for Desormeaux in the Hollywood Derby. He has 87 stakes wins at Del Mar, ninth most of all riders.

After a slow start to the meet, Hall of Famer Desormeaux came on strong to finish 4th in the Del Mar standings with 10 wins and $1,153,196 in purses.

Desormeaux outpolled Tyler Gaffalione who was the leading rider in wins for the week, Jose Lezcano who won three stakes races, Jose Ortiz with two Grade 1 stakes and one Grade 3, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. who won four stakes races.

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All ‘Glory’ in the Matriarch

Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom), purchased by Peter Brant's White Birch Farm for $925,000 at this year's Keeneland January sale, went wire-to-wire to earn her first Grade I victory and give trainer Chad Brown and jockey Jose Ortiz their second graded winner on the closing-day card at Del Mar in the GI Matriarch S. Sunday. Sent off the 8-5 second choice, the 5-year-old chestnut mare rushed up from her outside post to grab the lead into the first turn. She was unchallenged and running freely through fractions of :24.06 and :48.50, skipped further clear on the far turn and was unchallenged to the wire.

“I thought I'd have the lead and thought I was the only real speed in the race,” Ortiz, who also rode the Brown-trained Verbal (Flintshire {GB}) to victory in the GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. Sunday, said. “The horse inside [Princess Grace] has speed, but when she used it last time, she didn't finish. So I thought I'd be out front and it worked out just that way. We got away with some easy fractions and then she had lots for the finish.”

The victory was Brown's fourth in the eight runnings of the Matriarch conducted at Del Mar.

“Just go to the lead. That's what my boss told the jockey,” said Brown's assistant Jose Hernandez. “That was the plan. She's a really nice filly and she did it all. They all [Chad Brown's seven horses to race at Del Mar over the holiday weekend] go back to Kentucky on Tuesday and then to Florida.”

The consistent Regal Glory, who has been first or second in all but three of her 16 lifetime starts, won the GIII Lake George S. and GII Lake Placid S. over the Saratoga lawn in 2019 and added a graded victory in the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf S. last September.

Purchased by Brant from the dispersal of the late Paul Pompa, Jr. at Keeneland in January, Regal Glory won the Apr. 11 Plenty o' Grace S. in her first start for her new owner. A troubled fourth in the June 5 GI Just a Game S., she returned to the winner's circle in the Aug. 8 De La Rose S. at Saratoga and she was coming off a runner-up effort behind stablemate Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the Oct. 9 GI First Lady S. at Keeneland.

Pedigree Notes:

Multiple graded stakes winner Mary's Follies is also the dam of graded stakes winner Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway) and Japanese Group 1 winner Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) The mare produced a colt by Connect in 2020 and, after aborting in 2021, was bred back to American Pharoah. She sold to BBA Ireland for $500,000 at Keeneland January this year. Her Connect yearling, purchased by Larry Best's OXO Equine for $185,000 in January, RNA'd for $425,000 at this year's Keeneland September sale.

Regal Glory is the fourth Grade I winner for GI Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, who has also been represented by G1 Australian Derby winner Angel of Truth (Aus), GI Jaipur S. winner Oleksandra (Aus) and last year's GI American Oaks winner Duopoly.

Sunday, Del Mar
MATRIARCH S.-GI, $400,500, Del Mar, 11-28, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:35.33, fm.
1–REGAL GLORY, 123, m, 5, by Animal Kingdom
1st Dam: Mary's Follies (MGSW, $338,889),
by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Catch the Queen, by Miswaki
3rd Dam: Wave to the Queen, by Wavering Monarch
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($925,000 5yo '21 KEEJAN). O-Peter M.
Brant; B-Paul P Pompa (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz.
$240,000. Lifetime Record: 16-9-4-0, $1,244,884. *1/2 to
Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), MGSW, $535,682; and
Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah), G1SW-Jpn, $1,928,283.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A++.
2–Zofelle (Ire), 123, m, 5, by Zoffany (Ire)
1st Dam: Height of Elegance (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Brigid, by Irish River (Fr)
3rd Dam: Luv Luvin', by Raise a Native
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (27,000gns 3yo '19 TATJUL). O-Heider
Family Stables LLC; B-Fullbury & Minch Bloodstock (IRE);
T-Brendan P. Walsh. $80,000.
3–Princess Grace, 123, f, 4, by Karakontie (Jpn)
1st Dam: Masquerade (MSP, $233,873), by Silent Name (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Present Colors, by Prized
3rd Dam: Blue and Green, by Miswaki
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-John Moore & Susan Moore (KY);
T-Michael Stidham. $48,000.
Margins: 2HF, 1, NO. Odds: 1.60, 7.40, 1.50.
Also Ran: Viadera (GB), Fast Jet Court (Brz), Bodhicitta (GB).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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