“Racing fans here and from around the world were treated to two days of the very best of our sport, including three repeat champions,” said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “The 40th running of the Breeders' Cup was certainly worthy of the vision of its founders, who set out to create one of the most prestigious international events in our sport. We want to thank all of the weekend's participants, our sponsors, the communities of Arcadia and Pasadena, and our partners from 1/ST racing for their support.”

All-sources, common-pool handle on Saturday's 12-race Breeders' Cup card was $114,145,050, while the all-sources, common-pool handle for the 10-race 'Future Stars Friday' card was $62,136,939. The latter did not count Friday's 'All-Turf Pick 3′ special. On-track handle for the two days was $19,419,844. The total all-sources, common-pool handle of $176,281,989 was down from $189,060,373 last year and $182,908,409 in 2021. However, it was up slightly from the $174,628,986 when the event was last held at Santa Anita in 2019.

Saturday's on-track attendance was 66,247; Friday's was 43,377. The combined attendance of 109,624 was the highest since the Breeders' Cup was held at Churchill Downs in 2019 with an attendance of 112,672 and was up slightly from the 109,054 the last time the event was staged at Santa Anita in 2019.

The Breeders' Cup World Championships will return to California in 2024 and will be held at Del Mar.

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The 2021 Aqueduct winter meet, which ran from December 10, 2020 through March 28, 2021, generated all-sources handle of $349,962,356 a 4.3 percent increase over the 2018-19 winter meet, The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Tuesday.

Originally scheduled for 56 days of live racing, adverse weather conditions forced the cancellation of four cards during the 2021 winter meet. NYRA subsequently added two live race days to account for the cancellations, resulting in a 54-day meet.

Average daily handle over the 54 days of live racing was $6,480,784, a 15.9 percent increase over 2018-19, when the meet was contested over 60 days of live racing.

In accordance with New York State guidelines instituted to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the 2020-21 winter meet was conducted without spectators and with only a limited number of owners and essential employees in attendance.

On-track handle, which includes wagering from New York residents utilizing NYRA Bets, was $24,891,692.

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the 2019-20 Aqueduct winter meet, forcing the cancellation of live racing from March 20-29. In addition, the 2020 Aqueduct spring meet was cancelled in its entirety due to the pandemic. Live racing on the NYRA circuit resumed at Belmont Park on June 3, 2020.

In January, the first floor of Aqueduct became a New York State vaccination center, where more than 100,000 doses have been distributed to New Yorkers to date.

The 11-day Aqueduct spring meet begins on Thursday, April 1, and continues through Sunday, April 18. The spring meet is highlighted by the 96th running of the GII $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on Saturday, April 3.

The Wood Memorial will air on NBSCN as part of a live national broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET and scheduled to include the GII $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass from Keeneland and the GI $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park.

Prior to the NBCSN broadcast, national television coverage of the Wood Memorial Day card from Aqueduct can be found on FS2 beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

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“This increase would not be possible without the ongoing support from our horsemen,” said Frank Hopf, Senior Director of Racing Operations. “We welcomed back a solid number of barns and received stall applications from many new outfits this year. Additionally, we had tremendous interest from nationally prominent trainers for our six Houston Racing Festival stakes. Racing fans continue to respond to our racing product and comprehensive wagering menu.”

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“We want to thank our fans, owners, trainers, jockeys and other stakeholders for supporting our racing program and contributing to a strong opening day,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “This has been a difficult year for a lot of people and we are happy to be able to provide world class racing for those watching and playing the races from home.

“We can’t wait to welcome our fans and our employees back to The Great Race Place when protocols allow everyone to enjoy our tremendous sport in person. In the meantime, we are thankful to be able to operate as we are currently.”

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Attendance figures for the 2020 Championships at Keeneland were not reported since attendance was restricted to participants and essential personnel only due to COVID-19 safety precautions.

“We had an extraordinary two days of racing showcasing the best Thoroughbreds from around the world and we want to thank our hosts here at Keeneland, who did an amazing job, and the city of Lexington,” Breeders’ Cup CEO Drew Fleming said. “Given the unique circumstances for this year’s event with attendance limited here and at other tracks and simulcast facilities around the country, we are very pleased with the overall handle for the two days.”

Total common-pool handle for Saturday’s 12-race Breeders’ Cup card was $110,186,908 a 6% decline from last year’s Saturday handle of $117,483,346 at Santa Anita.

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“While this year’s Queen’s Plate might be remembered for not having fans in the stands, I would much rather it be remembered for the collective efforts of so many people that allowed this race to be run and its storied history continued to be written,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “On behalf of Woodbine, a sincere thank you to our staff, partners and the entire horse racing community for everything they did make this day possible. Over the past several months, we have certainly proved that we are stronger together and this historic handle is surely representative of that.”

Wagering wrapped up on this year’s Plate program with a Jackpot Hi-5 mandatory payout in the 13th race finale. The Jackpot Hi-5 pool included a carryover of $211,780.52, with $773,571 in new money wagered. With 4-1 favourite Guestimation holding off 9-2 second choice Giant Critic in a win photo and leading a 6-4-13-12-11 top five finish order, winning horseplayers received a return of $10,080.19 for a 20-cent ticket.

The Queen’s Plate undercard also featured the GII Canadian S., won in an upset by Rideforthecause (Candy Ride {Arg}), the Bison City S., the Ruling Angel S. and the King Corrie S.

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