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Hawthorne’s Fall Thoroughbred Meet Shows 29 Percent Handle Increase

In a year that saw a break during the summer harness meet for racing, limited to no fans in the facility, and uncertainty throughout the industry with virus concerns, the fall Thoroughbred meet at Hawthorne in Stickney, Ill. wrapped up with strong handle and field size increases. While the vast majority of handle came from locations off-site due to Covid-19 restrictions, great support from the horsemen in the entry box, beautiful weather, and support of the wagering public made for sizeable gains during the 34 day fall meet.

For handle, with restrictions in place throughout 2020, the only true comparison comes with total handle as $65,658,122 was wagered over the 34 racing days in 2020. This was compared to $44,763,380 wagered on the 30 cards in the 2019 October through December timeframe. This translated to a 29 percent per card increase in handle of $1,931,121 wagered per card in 2020 compared to $1,492,112 in the fall of 2019. For the 2020 meet, 15 cards surpassed $2 million in handle, compared to just one in 2019.

Field size greatly increased as well. With 298 races run in 2020, compared to 277 in 2019, a total of 2,694 horses started this fall, compared to 2,251 last season. Total average field size for the meet increased from 8.13 per race in 2019 to 9.04 in 2020. The nice weather paid off for turf races as 49 races were run on the grass in 2020, compared to just 19 in 2019.

On the track, jockey Victor Santiago won his second Hawthorne riding title, winning 32 races. 2019 champ Jareth Loveberry had another strong meet, finishing with 28 wins. Loveberry was followed by Chris Emigh, Julio Felix, and newcomer Francisco Arrieta, each with 27 wins apiece.

Trainer Hugh Robertson took his second consecutive training title, winning 26 races this fall. Scott Becker finished second with 16 wins. A strong first Hawthorne meet from Karl Broberg had him in third with 14 victories, tied with Brittany Vandenberg.

A big closing day pushed Novogratz Racing Stables to the owner's title, winning 16 races, followed by William Stritiz with 13 victories and End Zone Athletics, Inc. with 10 wins.

Two horses won five races during the fall meet as Wake Up Joe and Verrazano First both accomplished that feat. Readthecliffnotes scored four times during the fall racing season.

“2020 has been a year unlike any other at Hawthorne,” stated Hawthorne President and General Manager Tim Carey. “We faced uncertainty with the racing schedule, fans on-site, and working around casino construction at our facility. Working hand in hand with our horsemen made a great difference though. They are excited about what is just around the corner at Hawthorne for racing and showed their support all meet long. While 2020 turned out to be a strong fall meet for us, I cannot wait for what we can do for racing in Illinois in 2021 and beyond.”

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Nate Newby: ‘A Better Day-To-Day Product’ Is Key To Santa Anita’s Success

Santa Anita's new general manager Nate Newby spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week about his vision for the Arcadia, Calif. track. The long-time racing executive has been with Santa Anita for approximately 20 years, and is committed to improving the Southern California racing product.

A regular at handicapping tournaments over the years, Newby plans to use the handle and field size statistics to measure success in this new role. The track's groundbreaking safety initiatives will continue to be a primary focus, as well.

“Southern California and Santa Anita have over the years been the gold standard of racing,” Newby told latimes.com. “We have the quality, we have the best horses in the world and that shows in the premier events — the Triple Crown races and Breeders' Cup. Putting on a better day-to-day product for our horse players is key. My top priorities, 1 and 1a, are continuing our safety initiatives, making sure we're safe for both horses and riders.”

Remington’s Handle Exceeds $100 Million, Up 31.8 Percent In 2020

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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Charles Town Sets Annual Wagering Record For Sixth Straight Year

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races concluded its live racing season this past Saturday night with an all-sources handle approaching $2 million, and despite an atypical year that saw multiple temporary closures due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the track was able to once again establish a new annual record for wagering volume per race – the sixth consecutive year it has done so.

The $231,518 bet per race at Charles Town in 2020 easily ran past the previous record high of $156,311 set in 2019 by more than 48 percent while handle per starter jumped more than 43 percent.

In addition to the year-over-year gains, Charles Town nearly tripled its wagering volume per race versus where it stood in 2009 when an average of $80,980 was run through the windows each race. The 2020 levels represent a 185 percent increase over where the track stood just a decade earlier. In fact, the difference is so great that racing at Charles Town in 2020 produced 50 percent more in gross pari-mutuel handle than 2009 despite the track conducting 100 fewer race days.

“2020 was obviously challenging for everyone but the job our whole team did in helping us not only return from a shutdown earlier in the year but allowing us to achieve business volumes for racing that are unprecedented in our history has been remarkable,” said Vice President of Racing and Sports Operations Erich Zimny. “We're also grateful for our fans and horseplayers who continue to support our product, our industry partners that have been critical to our success and the Charles Town HBPA which was very cooperative in a year that was as challenging for the local horsemen anyone.”

When a temporary shutdown of live racing forced the April cancellation of Charles Town's marquee event – the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic – 2020 saw another first as both of Charles Town's graded stakes were run on the same card for the first time. Rescheduled for the last weekend in August, local hero Runnin'toluvya tried to defend his title in the Classic having become the first West Virginia-bred to win the contest just a year earlier. The popular gelding by West Virginia stallion Fiber Sonde finished a credible third but nobody in the field of 10 older horses was catching the eventual winner as Thumbs Up Racing's Sleepy Eyes Todd powered home to a 7 1/2 length triumph over longshot runner-up Plus Que Parfait. Trained by Miguel Silva and ridden by local rider Carlos Delgado, Sleepy Eyes Todd has since come back to win the Lafayette at Keeneland on the Breeders' Cup undercard and the Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The 2020 Charles Town Oaks (G3) saw a front running 9-1 upset by Joseph Besecker's Fly on Angel who held off G1 winner Wicked Whisper by a diminishing half-length on the wire under jockey Fredy Peltroche. In winning the Charles Town Oaks, Peltroche joined Javier Castellano as one of only two riders to have captured multiple graded stakes at Charles Town having won the Oaks two years prior aboard West Virginia-bred Late Night Pow Wow.

The $5,603,606 wagered on the 2020 Charles Town Classic card fell just over $100,000 short of the mark for the largest single-card handle in track history, established in 2019.

West Virginia Breeders' Classics XXXIV took place on Oct. 10 and the late running Awsome Faith notched a 37-1 surprise in the featured $150,000 West Virginia Breeders' Classic, besting fellow longshot Buff's Eye View by a half-length. In the richest race for fillies and mares on the Breeders' Classics card, odds-on favorite Bridging the Gap controlled the field from the start, drawing off to a 6 1/4 length score.

The $3,371,681 bet on the West Virginia Breeders' Classics XXXIV program established a new record for the event.

For the third time in his career, Arnaldo Bocachica topped the annual jockey standing at Charles Town in both wins and earnings. Winning at a 30 percent rate in 2020, Bocachica's 160 winners from 541 starts allowed him to bank $ $2,771,238 in earnings over the course of the year. Gerald Almodovar's 75 victories were enough to claim him the runner-up spot on the list with Christian Hiraldo, Reshawn Latchman and Denis Arujo rounding out the top five.

For the fifteenth consecutive year, Jeff Runco took the top spot in the trainer standings by saddling 93 winners at Charles Town – 25 more than runner-up Ronney Brown. Charles Town's perennial top two conditioners were well clear of Anthony Farrior, who found the winners circle at Charles Town 46 times in 2020. Runco's 424 starters produced $2,114,150 in earnings, allowing him to also take the earnings title as one of only three trainers to hit the seven-figure mark in winnings, joining Brown and John McKee.

Currently, there are 174 live days scheduled at Charles Town for 2021 with the track's two graded stakes – the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) and $400,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3) – both scheduled for Aug. 27. State-breds will take center stage on Oct. 9 as Charles Town will host the 35th renewal of the West Virginia Breeders' Classics.

Charles Town's 2021 racing season kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 8, with post time for the first race scheduled for 7:00pm EST.

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