Covid

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...

Total all-sources handle for the 2022 Thoroughbred meet at Woodbine was $621,782,346, by a wide margin the largest single-season total in the history of the track. The previous record was $533 million set in 2018. For the first time since 2019, Woodbine was able to hold a full season of racing. Over the course of 132 live dates, a total of 1,198 races were staged. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were delayed and interrupted to varying degrees by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We're very happy with the results of our 2022...

Further easing in the local COVID restrictions meant that the biggest crowd since January--better than 13,000 racegoers--took in Sunday's BOCHK Jockey Club meeting at Sha Tin in person and were they ever rewarded. Making their seasonal debuts and having a single prep towards next month's Longines Hong Kong International Races, both two-time defending Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) and last year's champion 4-year-old Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) were outstanding in taking out the G2 Jockey Club Mile and G2 Jockey Club Cup, respectively, while Lucky...

Privat 3 Money, the first truly digital alternative to private banking in the UK, has been announced as the new title partner for the Goffs London Sale. Held at Kensington Palace Gardens on June 13, the eve of Royal Ascot, the sale is accepting entries in the coming weeks. This is the first edition since 2019, as the sale was not held during the pandemic. Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, "We are delighted to welcome Privat 3 Money as the new title partner to Goffs London Sale. P3...

The Mar. 26 Dubai World Cup night, which features $30.5 million in purses spread across nine races, is expected to attract a full house of fans for the 26th edition. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, race meetings have been conducted with restrictions placed on the number of people allowed to attend, but for the first time since 2019, there are no restrictions at a Meydan race day. Meydan Racecourse can hold up to 80,000 spectators. Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, the Chairman of Dubai Racing Club, said, "We are...

The three-pound COVID allowance for riders will be replaced with an across-the-board two-pound rise in the published weights, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) confirmed on Monday. In addition, the current three-pound back protector allowance will be raised to a general four-pound safety allowance for jockeys. These changes will go into effect for races staged from Monday, May 2, following further discussions with the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), National Trainers Federation (NTF), and a number of Flat and Jump jockeys. Horses will continue to carry the same weights that they have...

Group 1 winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), who finished 11th in the G3 Neom Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard in Riyadh on Saturday, is in good order and remains in the mix for the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night on Mar. 26. Breaking widest of all from gate 14 on Saturday, the 5-year-old entire never appeared comfortable while trapped well off the fence for most of the race. He eventually tired and dropped back before being impeded by a rival that had fallen...

Godolphin jockey William Buick, who was slated to ride the Jan. 21 G2 Al Fahidi Fort hero Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 1351 Turf Sprint on the Saturday of the Saudi Cup meeting, has tested positive for Covid and will be off his mounts in Riyadh on Saturday. Also due to ride Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Longines Red Sea Turf H., Noble Truth (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) in the G3 Saudi Derby and Copano Kicking (Spring At Last) in the G3 Riyadh Cup Sprint, Buick...

The 2021 Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association National Breeding & Racing Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. In person for the first time in two years due to the covid pandemic at The Heritage in County Laois, the awards will be live streamed from 10 p.m. local time and are available to view on the ITBA's website.

The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Flat Stallion Parade will return after a two-year hiatus at Tattersalls in Newmarket on Feb. 3. Free to attend, the event will feature 12 stallions embarking on their first and second seasons at stud in Great Britain and will begin at 11 a.m. prior to the start of the Tattersalls February Sale. Hosted by racing broadcaster Gina Bryce and Tattersalls' Shirley Anderson-Jolag, the parade's dozen stallions are: A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), who stands at Newsells Park Stud; Bangkok (Ire) (Australia {GB}), a resident of Chapel...

Crowd capacity numbers will be reduced at Royal Ascot beginning in 2022, Ascot Racecourse announced on Thursday. After feedback from racegoers attending the smaller scale Royal Ascot in 2021, attendance caps will be instated across the Royal Enclosure, Queen Anne Enclosure, and Windsor Enclosure for the five-day meeting from June 14-18, 2022. In addition to reducing capacity in the Royal Enclosure by 1,000 guests (-7%) to 12,500, a new area for circulation has been added-the Royal Enclosure Gardens. The Queen Anne and Windsor Enclosures have been reduced by 4,150 (20%)...

Demand for bloodstock continued in Newmarket on Thursday, albeit at a lower price bracket, as Adaalah (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a member of the Shadwell draft, brought 82,000gns to top the fourth and final session of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale as the curtain fell on the sales season at Park Paddocks for 2021. Thanks in part to larger drafts from the aforementioned Shadwell, Juddmonte and Godolphin, the former pair having lost their patrons earlier this year, turnover at the December Mare Sale was in excess of 60 million gns,...