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Handle Rebounds in June

According to figures supplied by Equibase, total wagering on U.S. races rose slightly in June, a welcome development after handle plummeted in March, April and May, the months when racing was most impacted by the coronavirus.

A total of $998,448,300 was bet during the month, a 0.76% increase over 2019 numbers. Handle was off by 30.16& percent in May, 24.42% in April and 22.8% in March.

The improved handle numbers were the result of more racetracks opening up, albeit most without fans allowed in the stands. The number of races run in June was 2,485, while 3,905 were held during June 2019. While those numbers represent a 36.36% decline, they are an improvement over previous months. In May and in April, the number of races run was off by 70% or more.

At least in June, there was a leveling off of handle. Virtually the same amount was bet during June 2020 as was wagered in 2019, but it was spread among fewer tracks. That appears to be one of the reasons handle was up sharply during the month at some tracks. The average amount wagered on a racing program in June was $3.3 million, a robust 67.6% increase from a year ago.

Field size also appears to be driving handle. With fewer opportunities available to horses, the average field size in June was 8.11. It was 7.10 a year ago. During the second quarter, which includes April, May and June, average field size was up 16.55%.

With fewer races available, the amount of purse money paid out during the month fell by 39.7%, from $115,194,834 to $69,463,605.

The second quarter numbers are a better indicator of the toll the coronavirus has taken on the sport. A total of $2.5 billion was bet during the quarter, an 18.85% decline from a year earlier when the amount wagered was $3.1 billion. The number of race days declined by 59.68% and purses fell by 62.47%.

For the year, the picture doesn’t look as bleak as one might expect for a sport that has had to deal with a pandemic. Handle for the year has been $5,055,510, a 10.88% decline from 2019 figures. Purses for the year are down 40.41%.

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Mitchell Road Fends Off Challengers To Win Ellis Park Turf

The $50,000 Ellis Park Turf proved Mitchell Road's path back into the winner's circle as she held off upset-minded Strike My Fancy to triumph by a neck.

The class of the field, Mitchell Road was a Grade 3 winner last year but came into the Ellis Park Turf 0 for 3 in 2020, finishing seventh in Churchill Downs' Grade 3 Mint Julep following a pair of seconds.

“I think we were just looking around for a good spot for her,” said Kenny McCarthy, who oversees the Churchill Downs operation for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “I mean, she tries hard every time we run her. I think sometimes mentally it's nice for them to win one, when they put forth so much effort. She's been pretty consistent, so it was good to get the win today.”

Mitchell Road was unprepared at the start and broke last but was content to briefly settle behind Harmless, who at 33-1 was the longest shot in the field of six older fillies and mares, before lapping on alongside her rival. Harmless actually stuck her head back in front in midstretch, but Mitchell Road shook her off and then held Strike My Fancy at bay.

“It worked out pretty well,” said Joe Talamo, winning his first stakes at Ellis Park in his first year making Kentucky his base. “The pace was really slow. I just let her gather up her stride and slowly get up there. She got into a really good rhythm down the backside, the whole way around there. Then turning for home, I had a lot of horse. When that other filly came to me, she fought her off pretty nicely. When she got to the lead, I felt like she might have been waiting a little bit, so I was actually happy to see that other filly come to her. I think it made her pay attention a little bit more. Because even galloping out, she was still full of run. I was just thankful for the opportunity. She's a very nice filly.”

Mitchell Road toured 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:43.12, quickening to cover the final sixteenth-mile in 6.10 seconds. The daughter of turf champion English Channel paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favorite.

“She's a filly, if you watch her races, she loves a dogfight,” McCarthy said. “It's like she kind of gets there and then is waiting there for that next one to come. I saw the 6 (Strike My Fancy) coming, but I felt she was still going to hold. That's the kind of filly she is.”

The Matt Shirer-trained Strike My Fancy closed with a rush under Colby Hernandez to make a close race out of it.

“My horse ran a big race. She tries every time,” said Hernandez, the younger brother of Kentucky mainstay Brian Hernandez Jr. “She's a very easy horse to ride. She puts you where you need to be in a race. At the sixteenth pole I thought I had a chance at the winner.”

Harmless — claimed for $62,500 in her prior start, and finishing eighth that day — came in another 1 1/4 lengths back in third under Alex Achard, thrilling new trainer Michelle Lovell.

“That was good,” she said. “I thought she may hang in for second. She hung in there for a long time.”

Mintd, who hit the gate at the start, came in fourth. Timeless Curls, who pushed the early pace in her first start in 13 1/2 months, and Our Bay B Ruth founded out the field. Sister Hanan, Makealitlemischief, Mighty Scarlett and Complicit were scratched.

Mitchell Road now has won races at ages 3, 4 and 5, with three stakes victories last year — including Pimlico's Grade 3 Gallorette two weeks after her younger half-brother Country House gave Mott his first victory in the Kentucky Derby. Both horses are out of the War Chant mare Quake Lake. Mitchell Road now is 7-5-0 in 15 starts, earning $501,060 for Mrs. J.V. Shields Jr. and E.J.M. McFadden Jr.

“Any year you can win a stakes is a great year for it,” McCarthy said. “Obviously this is probably her last year of running, so let's look around for her and try to find her some good spots and let her pad her resume.”

A good spot easily could be Ellis Park's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf on Aug. 2. The winner of that race gets a fees-paid spot in the $500,000, Grade 3 Three Chimneys Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Sept. 12, a race Mitchell Road ran second in last year.

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Blue Grass-Bound Pair Fire Keeneland Bullets

Finnick the Fierce (Dialed In) and Man in the Can (Can the Man) were the recipients of Saturday morning bullets at Keeneland as each wrapped up their serious work ahead of next Saturday’s GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in Lexington.

The one-eyed Finnick the Fierce drilled a half-mile in :46.20, the fastest of 90 works at the distance Saturday morning. The gelding, an adjudicated allowance winner at Oaklawn Apr. 4, was a sound third to the now-retired Nadal (Blame) in the GI Arkansas Derby May 2. He exits a third in Churchill allowance company June 13 in which Blue Grass hopeful Art Collector (Bernardini) was allowed to set a moderate pace and kicked home much the best.

Arkansas-bred Man in the Can won the state-bred restricted Rainbow S. Apr. 17 and the Arkansas Breeders’ Championship S. May 1 before besting next-out GIII Ohio Derby upsetter Dean Martini (Cairo Prince) in a June 12 allowance beneath the Twin Spires. The bay zipped five furlongs in :59.60 (1/18) Saturday in Lexington.

“He handled the track really well,” trainer Ron Moquett said. “I was really glad to see that. It should set him up well for the race.”

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Shivaree Tunes Up for Blue Grass

Shivaree (Awesome of Course), who belied odds of 80-1 to complete the exacta behind future GI Belmont S. hero Tiz the Law (Constitution) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 28, worked five furlongs in 1:01.65 Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park in advance of the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 11.

A homebred for Fred Brei’s Jacks Or Better Farm, Shivaree required five starts to break his maiden, but has since proved he belongs in the 3-year-old discussion with a pair of stakes scores prior to his Florida Derby effort. The Ralph Nicks trainee was a latest third to Belmont also-ran Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) in a salty one-mile allowance in Hallandale June 10.

“It was a very good work–1:01 and change and 1:14 and change in the gallop out,” Nicks said. “I hope he reproduces his Florida Derby race in the Blue Grass, then he’ll get a big piece of it. If he doesn’t get it all, he’ll get a big piece of it.”

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