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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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Meadowlands: Saturday Night Card Features 15 Races With Full 10-Horse Fields

After The Meadowlands takes a break for the holiday – there is no racing or simulcasting on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day – live action will return to The Big M with a bang this Saturday (Dec. 26) night with a gigantic 15-race program that will begin at the track's new early post time of 6 p.m.

Like a true holiday feast, the card comes with all the trimmings. All 15 races have full 10-horse fields and the track's betting menu offers all the goodies Big M players have grown accustomed to, with a 20-cent Pick-5 (race one), 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 (race three), 20-cent Pick-6 (race eight), 10-cent Pentafecta (race 15) and a pair of 50-cent Pick-4s (beginning in races six and 10). Both Pick-4s will have guaranteed pools of $50,000 and all the wagers offer a low 15 percent takeout.

The wagering on the card figures to be fast and furious since the last two Saturday programs were compromised: Two weeks ago by heavy fog – which left all of who watched a limited view of the first eight races – and last week by an electrical malfunction that caused the cancelation of the entire 13-race card.

“The Saturday card features 15 full 10-horse fields,” said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “Which will give horseplayers many chances for the big score. The one-mile oval makes it possible for all vertical and horizontal players to shoot for the moon.

“We think our product will do extraordinarily well this winter with our new 6 p.m. post time, which will be in effect through mid-March. We are hopeful that The Meadowlands with full fields and low takeout can cultivate even more horseplayers from around the world to wager on our signal.”

Not only will harness fans get to overindulge on the races from the mile oval, but Thoroughbred fans will get an excellent nosh as well, as the day after Christmas The Big M will offer simulcasting of the Opening Day card from Arcadia, Calif.'s Santa Anita Park. The 11-race program – which features five graded stakes events – has a post time of 2 p.m.

FREE PPs: For free past performances of Meadowlands races, courtesy of the United States Trotting Association and TrackMaster, go to playmeadowlands.com.

Races 10 through 13 – the entire Late 50-cent Pick-4 – will be available for Saturday's card.

TWEET THE TEAM: Stay in touch on Twitter with the Big M's Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little (@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Shades Demsky (@shadesonracing) and Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1). Check in everyday for Meadowlands news and updates at those handles, as well as @TheMeadowlands and #playbigm.

CHECK OUT THE PICKS: For those who need to get a leg up on the action, go to playmeadowlands.com to see track oddsmaker and analyst Brower's selections and commentary. Click on the “handicapping” tab and go to “race reviews”.

Additionally, track announcer Warkentin's blog is available on the site and offers his picks and analysis.

On race nights, access picks and plays from the Big M TV team at #playbigm or at @TheMeadowlands.

CHECK OUT THE SHOW: Be sure to watch the live “Racing from The Meadowlands” pre-game show, which will now begin on race nights at 5:27 p.m.

On Saturday night, The Big M's “A” team of Brower and Little will talk about what's going on in harness racing and take a look at that evening's featured races from the Sam McKee Memorial Broadcast Set while Demsky will be the featured handicapper on the live presentation on the Television Games Network (tvg.com) all night long.

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE TRACK? There are several options for those who would rather catch the action from The Big M at home.

Racing fans can watch all the races live on the Roberts Television Network (rtn.tv). In addition, they can watch and wager by going to the Television Games Network (tvg.com) or their favorite Advance-deposit Wagering site (ADW).

THE MEADOWLANDS SCHEDULE: There is no live racing on Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25.

There will be live racing Saturday, Dec. 26, with a post time of 6 p.m.

In addition, The Big M will be closed for simulcasting on both Dec. 24 and 25.

HOLIDAY AT FANDUEL: Football fans can get their fill at the FanDuel Sportsbook, located just inside the main entrance at The Meadowlands.

On Saturday (Dec. 26), there will be four college football games that handicappers can play, and, in addition, the National Football League will have three contests: At 1 p.m., Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-9½) travel to Detroit to take on the Lions; Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals (-5½) host the San Francisco 49ers at 4:30 p.m. before the final game of the day kicks off at 8:15 p.m. when Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins (-3) travel to Sin City to take on the Las Vegas Raiders.

This week for the Christmas holiday, there will be some changes to the schedule at the FanDuel Sports Book.

On Dec. 24, bets will be taken until 6 p.m. The book will be closed on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

During a normal week, hours in the track's FanDuel Sports Book are from 10 a.m. – midnight Sunday through Friday and from 10 a.m. – 2 a.m. on Saturday.

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Equibase Analysis: Nashville Stands Out In Runhappy Malibu Stakes

The holiday present the racing world opens on the day after Christmas is always a fantastic afternoon of racing on opening day of the winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita. The bright shiny bow on that present is, as usual, the Grade 1, $300,000 Runhappy Malibu Stakes.

Six horses are entered and each is special in his own right, with five of the sextet stakes winners. In terms of the level of stakes won by some of the entrants, we have to start with the Bob Baffert trained Charlatan, who crossed the finish line first in the rescheduled G1 Arkansas Derby in May, only to be stripped of that victory thereafter for a medication violation. Bob Baffert, who has won the Malibu three times previously, also saddles Thousand Words, winner of the 2019 G2 Los Alamitos Futurity as well as the Shared Belief Stakes this past summer.

Collusion Illusion won the G1 Bing Crosby Stakes in August so among the three graded stakes winners he is the only one with a win in a sprint like the Malibu. Then there's Nashville, undefeated in three starts including the Perryville Stakes last month in the sizzling time of 1:07.8. Independence Hall is no slouch, having won the G3 Nashua Stakes in November 2019 and back in form off a win last month following seven months off. Express Train has been first or second in all four of his races at a mile or less, and although this will be his first try in a graded stakes around one turn he can't be ruled out as a contender.

In this handicapper's opinion, this year's Malibu Stakes is Nashville's to lose. His effort in the Perryville Stakes last month at Keeneland was scintillating, winning by 3 1/2 lengths when galloping the last few yards after having run his opponents off their feet. The track that day was fast but fair and the 115 Equibase Speed Figure bears that out. Having earned a 106 figure winning his debut in September at Saratoga, then 113 five weeks later, Nashville is lightly enough raced that we have likely not seen his best yet. Since the Perryville, Nashville has put in three sizzling workouts at trainer Steve Asmussen's winter base at Fair Grounds in Louisiana, consisting of three five furlongs workouts, the most recent in :58.8 which was the best of 20 on the day. With the trainer's number one jockey Ricardo Santana in the saddle for the Malibu as he was for the Perryville, and with no horse in the field faster in the first quarter mile, Nashville may be running against the record book in terms of time in this year's race.

Independence Hall is the only horse I could see beating Nashville, based on how the race is likely to be run, and based on the fact he's making his second start back after seven months off as well as coming off a career-best effort. Independence Hall won the first three races of his career starting back in September of 2019. His second and third career wins came in stakes, all around one turn including the Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct last November with a 107 figure. Next winning the Jerome Stakes and putting himself into the early Derby picture, Independence Hall finished second in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, before a poor fifth place effort in the Florida Derby. Away from the races from the end of March until last month, Independence Hall changed trainers to Michael McCarthy and came back better than ever with a new career-best 108 figure effort at six and one-half furlongs. Likely pointing to this race with that prep, Independence Hall has put in two best of the day workouts since then, the most recent :59 flat for five furlongs which was the best of 83 at the distance on the day. He gets a good outside post in case the pace is hot and with logical improvement off his 108 last race figure could potentially post the upset.

Regarding Charlatan, who is likely to be either the betting favorite, or second betting favorite behind Nashville, there are some serious concerns in my opinion about his probability to win compared to others. First, he hasn't been seen since winning the Arkansas Derby nearly eight months ago and in spite of some excellent workouts, he doesn't stand out based on his best efforts. In the race prior to the Arkansas Derby at Santa Anita in March, Charlatan earned a 108 figure just on par with the figure Independence Hall earned last month and much lower than the 113 and 115 figures Nashville earned in his two most recent races, as well as shy of the 116 figure Collusion Illusion earned winning the Bing Crosby Stakes this summer. Next, in spite of having won this race three times previously, Bob Baffert just does not have a good record with horses coming back from layoffs in the two big races for 3-year-olds on opening weekend – the Malibu Stakes and the La Brea Stakes (for fillies). According to a query I ran using STATS Race Lens, Baffert has not won in seven tries over the last five years with horses coming back from layoffs longer than two months. His most recent win in this race, with McKinzie, came off a layoff of just under two months. Particularly, horses which last ran in May similar to Charlatan fared poorly, such as Lord Nelson (2015), Mor Spirit (2016) and Solomini (2018). With those results in mind I'm taking a stand against Charlatan, also noting he has led from start to finish in all three races to date and there's little doubt he's not going to have the early lead against Nashville.

As to the rest of the field, Express Train earned a career-best figure of 112 when second at a mile in late September over the track before a failed attempt on turf and could return to competitive form back on the main track so could get a piece. Collusion Illusion rallied from seventh to win the Bing Crosby with a 116 figure and before that won the Lazaro Barrera Stakes at the distance of six and one-half furlongs so he could be making up ground late and is another with a shot to finish in-the-money. Thousand Words ran the second worst race of his career when last seen in October, finishing eighth in the Preakness Stakes. His best efforts winning the Shared Belief Stakes and Robert B. Lewis Stakes earned 107 figures but both were two-turn races so he would need to run better than he ever has to beat many of these.

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Nashville
Independence Hall

Runhappy Malibu Stakes – Grade 1
Race 10 at Santa Anita
Saturday, December 26 – Post Time 6:30 PM E.T.
Seven Furlongs
3-Year-Olds
Purse: $300,000

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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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