A Record-Breaking $700-Million Meet at Saratoga

The 2019 Saratoga meet, NYRA's first ever where the meet was expanded to eight weeks but limited to five days of racing, ended yesterday and the numbers proved that the experiment was a big hit as Saratoga's all-sources betting handle for the meet topped $700 million for the first time.

Total all-sources handle was $705,343,949, surpassing last year's total by $46 million or 7%. Those numbers look even better when considering that NYRA lost an entire card, July 20, when it had to cancel because of the heat. NYRA likely would have handled between $21 and $23 million on that day. It also had to cancel seven races July 25 due to a severe storm.

“This has been a truly outstanding meet highlighted by the traditional recipe that sets Saratoga apart: world-class Thoroughbred racing and entertainment,” O'Rourke said. “We would not be in this enviable position without the dedication of the owners, the talent of the horsemen, and the unmatched enthusiasm of our fans. I want to thank the local community for their support and everyone who contributed to our success this summer. This summer also marked the loss of one of Saratoga's most ardent benefactors, Mrs. Marylou Whitney. Saratoga and NYRA will forever be grateful for her contributions to racing.”

Though NYRA cannot come out with its racing schedules until they are approved by the New York Gaming Commission, O'Rourke said that organization would apply for the same five days/eight-week meet next year, but added that it is possible that there could be a change to the dark days. This year, they were Mondays and Tuesdays, and he said there's some talk of going to Tuesdays and Wednesdays instead.

“The off days on Mondays and Tuesdays certainly worked for us, but I heard some complaints from the restaurants that they were dead on Sunday nights,” O'Rourke said. “I want to hear what they have to say before deciding on the off days for next year. We like to consider more than just the bottom line for Saratoga because this town is about more than just a racetrack. To make Saratoga the success that it is, the entire community, and what is good for them, matters.”

Coming into the meet, NYRA did not know if the additional week was going to take a toll on people, and, if it did, if the extra day off would somehow make up for it. As for how fans, horsemen and employees held up through an eight-week meet, O'Rourke said there were pluses and minuses.

“People don't realize that eight weeks is a long way to be away from home and I am sure there are some people who will be glad to be heading back,” he said. “But certainly everyone seemed to appreciate having that extra day where the backstretch workers could take a little break and a lot of the employees and fans got two days to rest up.”

The ADW and simulcast players seemed to enjoy the extra day off more than anyone else as on-track handle actually fell slightly at the meet, from $148,826,388 to $146,812,772.

“I think one reason our off-track handle was up over our on-track handle was because of the immense amount of television coverage we did during the meet,” O'Rourke said. “That gave people all over the country the chance to follow our races, and not just on the big days.”

NYRA's programming, Saratoga Live featured more than 190 hours of live programming this season compared to 80 hours when the broadcast was first introduced in 2016.

When asked if the extra television exposure might have cost NYRA on-track business, O'Rourke said, “Not at all. That was one of the big pluses of this meet, all the exposure we got at this meet. I have to give Tony Allevato and Eric Donovan, two integral people involved with the TV production, a ton of credit. It's not that easy to put together that much programming and they did a very good job doing so.”

O'Rourke said several ideas will be tossed around concerning how to increase on-track crowds, including the shifting of give-away days and ways to further capitalize on the 1863 Club, which was opened for this year's meet. NYRA started July 11, the earliest start ever for a Saratoga meet. Traditionally, on-track attendance picks up in August and such an early start could not have helped on-track business.

Jose Ortiz was the leading rider at the meet, besting his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., by a 60-53 margin. It was his third straight Spa title. Chad Brown won the training title with 41 victories. He fell short of the meet record he set last year when making 46 trips to the winner's circle.

New York racing is set to resume Sept. 6 at Belmont Park, but plans for the Long Island track having an abbreviated meet before moving to Aqueduct are currently up in the air. The reason given was that NYRA was worried about conducting racing there while construction was ongoing for a new arena for the New York Islanders. But O'Rourke said Monday that may no longer be the case.

“I want to see what happens when we get back to Belmont,” he said. “There's a chance that the problems caused by the construction won't be as great as anticipated and if that's the case then maybe we will run the full meet there rather than going to Aqueduct.”