Wagering on U.S. races, available and paid purses, as well as the total number of racing days, all saw declines to varying degrees during the month of October, according to information released by Equibase on Monday.
Total wagering of $818.9 million on races during the month represented a 9.34% decrease over the same period from 2022, while available purses of $108.5 million were down by 10.43%. The figure of $104.2 million for paid purses in October was down 10.81%, while the total number of race days dropped from 332 to 317 (4.52%). Average field size in October was slightly up over a year ago, however, and checked in at an average of 7.77 runners, an increase of 2.12%. Average daily wagering was down by 2.76% to $2,583,574 and the average available purse number per race day was down 2.75% to $342,502 from the figure of $352,224 in 2022.
For the first ten months of 2023, wagering on U.S. races declined 4.70% to $9.948 billion and the available and paid purse money dropped slightly by .49% and 0.92%, respectively. Average daily wagering of $2.93 million was also down fractionally by .08% while average available purses per race day increased by 8.55% to $324,317.
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