The 25th season of Thoroughbred racing at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas concluded July 11 with handle figures their largest since 2006. The figures do not include last year's pandemic season.
Daily merged (i.e. live, on-track plus export) handle totaled $1,693,866 for the 48-day meet, while a daily average of $1,459,096 in export handle. On-track fans wagered $234,770 daily, the most since 2018. Average daily attendance on weekends and holidays for the meet was just over 4,000 per day, just a 4% decline from 2019.
“The attendance figures were a very positive takeaway for the meet,” said Brandon Leigh, Lone Star Park's Director of Marketing & Player Development. “There is lots of momentum to build upon for next year, considering that a majority of our indoor reserved seating areas were limited to just 50% capacity this year.”
The highlight of the meet was Lone Star Million Day on Memorial Day, when on-track handle topped $900,000, with export handle nearly $5.5 million, a single-day record not including the Breeders' Cup.
Steve Asmussen finished the meet as leading trainer, while Stewart Elliott topped the jockeys' table. Karl Broberg's End Zone Athletics' Inc won 40 races from 184 runners.
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