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Maryland’s First 2-Year-Old Race Kicks Off Friday’s Stronach 5

The Stronach 5, featuring a $100,000 guaranteed pool and industry-low 12-percent takeout, will begin Friday with the first 2-year-old race run this year in Maryland, a $40,000 maiden special weight event at five furlongs on Laurel Park's main track.

The popular wager will feature three races from Laurel and two from Gulfstream Park. Gulfstream's races will include a five furlong event on the turf and the sequence will conclude with a $45,000 allowance optional claimer at 5 ½ furlongs on Laurel's Dahlia Turf Course.

The opening leg of the Stronach 5 features a field of 10 juvenile colts and geldings. Three of the maidens – San Antone, Don't Dare Me and Alwaysinahurry – come into the race off second-place finishes at Delaware Park against maiden special weight company.

Friday's races and sequence

· Leg One – Laurel Park 6th Race: (10 entries, 5 furlongs) 3:21 ET, 12:21 PT

· Leg Two –Gulfstream Park 8th Race: (11 entries, 5 furlongs turf) 3:40 ET, 12:40 PT

· Leg Three –Laurel Park 7th Race: (12 entries, 1 mile) 3:59 ET, 12:59 PT

· Leg Four –Gulfstream Park 9th Race: (11 entries, 1 mile) 4:14 ET, 1:14 PT

· Leg Five –Laurel Park 8th race: (9 entries, 5 ½ furlongs turf) 4:32 ET, 1:32 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Maryland’s First 2-Year-Old Race Kicks Off Friday’s Stronach 5 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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NYRA Schedules Mandatory Payout Of Empire 6 For Aug. 9

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Thursday that the Sunday, Aug. 9 card at Saratoga Race Course will feature a mandatory payout of the Empire 6, which boasts a jackpot of $1,080,254 heading into Thursday's live racing action at the Spa.

Live coverage of all the races in the sequence will be available with Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG+. Free Equibase-provided past performances will be available for races that are part of the Saratoga Live broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

The Empire 6 requires the bettor to select the first-place finisher of the final six races of the card. On non-mandatory payout days, if one unique ticket exists, then 100 percent of the net pool, plus the jackpot carryover if applicable, will be paid to the winner. If there is no unique wager selecting the first-place finisher in all six races, then 75 percent of the day's net pool will be distributed to those who selected the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races. The remainder will be added into the jackpot and carried to the next day's Empire 6.

Sunday's card is headlined by the $85,000 Alydar, a nine-furlong test for 4-year-olds and up.

For more information on the Empire 6, please visit http://www.nyrabets.com.

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Handle Soars in July, Tops $1 Billion

The total amount wagered on U.S. races in July saw a 16.63% increase over 2019 figures, the best month the sport has had this year and a sign that the effects of the coronavirus are no longer negatively impacting handle. The July handle of $1,098,728 was the first $1 billion-plus monthly handle on the year.

Prior to the release of the figures, there had already been signs that July was going to be a good month. The handle for GI Haskell S. day at Monmouth was over $20 million, the most that track has handled outside of the Breeders’ Cup. NYRA reported that handle at Saratoga for the opening weekend was up 9.4%.

The July numbers were a welcome sign after handle was battered by coronavirus shutdowns in March, April and May. Handle was down at least 22% all three months and fell by 30.16% in May, which, in a normal year, would have included the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. Those races have been postponed until later this year.

Thanks in large part to the July numbers, total handle is down only 6.96% on the year.

The number of races run during the month and the number of race days remained on the decline. There were 3,290 races, a 12.35% drop off from last year, and 484 race days, a 17.77% decrease. But wagering on the races that were run was robust. The average amount wagered per race day was $2,761,165, a 41.83% increase.

Average field size also inched up. It was 7.97 starters per race versus 7.4 in July, 2019.

Perhaps the only negative news in the figures released Wednesday by Equibase came in the category of total purses. They were $90,224,084 in July, down 12.69% from last year. But average purses per race day was up, by 6.17%. For the year, purses are down $233 million or 35.99%.

The post Handle Soars in July, Tops $1 Billion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Economic Indicators: Total 2020 Handle Continues To Show Signs Of Recovery

Equibase, LLC released its monthly report on Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing this Wednesday, Aug. 5. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Equibase is currently providing monthly reporting of its Economic Indicators Advisories. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year.

While the pandemic means most tracks are currently racing without fans, average daily wagering in 2020 continues to show strong increases over 2019 numbers as racing remains one of the few sports able to operate in concert with pandemic protocols. In the month of July, average daily wagering was up 41.83 percent in 2020, while the year-to-date figures show an increase of 41.72 percent.

Overall wagering figures are still showing the effects of the rescheduled Kentucky Derby, though year-to-date total handle is down just 6.96 percent thus far in 2020. Considering that the total number of race days and races held in 2020 are down 34.25 percent and 33.08 percent, respectively, the total handle is actually doing quite well.

Additionally, numbers from the first six months of 2020 showed year-to-date wagering down 10.88 percent, so the differential is decreasing as 2020 goes on and racing adjusts to a “new normal.”

Whether the Kentucky Derby will be able to be held with fans present remains to be seen, and that could affect how handle continues to recover through the remaining months of one of the most unique years in recent history.

July 2020 vs. July 2019
Indicator	July 2020	July 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$1,098,943,728	$942,243,633	+16.63%
U.S. Purses	$90,224,084	$103,342,574	-12.69%
U.S. Race Days	398	484	-17.77%
U.S. Races	3,280	3,742	-12.35%
U.S. Starts	24,984	26,612	-6.12%
Average Field Size	7.62	7.11	+7.11%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$2,761,165	$1,946,784	+41.83%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$226,694	$213,518	+6.17%

YTD 2020 vs. YTD 2019
Indicator	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$6,154,466,247	$6,615,017,905	-6.96%
U.S. Purses	$414,380,742	$647,344,706	-35.99%
U.S. Race Days	1,699	2,588	-34.35%
U.S. Races	14,186	21,199	-33.08%
U.S. Starts	113,058	156,851	-27.92%
Average Field Size	7.97	7.40	+7.71%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,622,405	$2,556,035	+41.72%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$243,897	$250,133	-2.49%

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