An influx of horses from Northern California pushed up field sizes at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., helping the track post sizeable gains in handle during its recently concluded meet, according to an analysis by Daily Racing Form.
Counting only Thoroughbred races, total handle during the 50-day meet was $65.9 million, up 36 percent over total handle of $48.4 million during a 55-day meet last year, according to the analysis. The average handle per race soared 41.2 percent, to $160,000 per race, up from $113,000 per race last year.
Phil Ziegler, president of Emerald Downs, said that the new horses from Northern California – driven to Emerald by the recent closure of Golden Gate Fields and the collapse of the region’s fair circuit – provided at least 100 new horses to the track’s backstretch. Field size at the track climbed from 6.42 horses per race during the previous meet to 7.33 horses per race this year.
Ziegler also said that a decision to concentrate Emerald’s major races on four weekend dates during the meet also paid dividends. Handle also benefited from the lack of competition from Golden Gate and the fairs in the simulcast market, Ziegler said.
“With our better field sizes and our four big race days, things turned around,” Ziegler said. “I think a lot of people [in the simulcast market] discovered us.”
Total handle on Aug. 17, a Sunday card that featured the Longacres Mile, was $3.31 million, a record for the track.
Ontrack handle jumped 18 percent, according to the track, while attendance was up nearly 10 percent. Attendance on Father’s Day was more than 10,000.
Emerald suffered through a disastrous meet in 2024, with its total handle down nearly 20 percent and its per-race average down 18.9 percent. The track had made the decision prior to last year’s meet to raise purses, and the hangover from the depressed business results led the track to trim the purse account for this year, with the average purse dropping 7.3 percent, to $15,242, according to the DRF analysis.
Ziegler said that he hoped the results this year would create a foundation for more growth in the future.
“Hopefully, we made a few more fans out there,” Ziegler said. “Our fans are the thing that keeps us going.”
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