Handle in the mid-Atlantic region took a tumble this weekend versus last. The total amount wagered on racing taking place at Charles Town, Delaware, Monmouth, Parx Racing, and Penn National fell about 35 percent, to $14.6 million.
That was no surprise, since last weekend’s Haskell card at Monmouth spurred a big jump in wagering. This weekend, wagering on Monmouth fell by nearly half to a still-solid $9.5 million.
And Monmouth wasn’t alone. Both Pennsylvania tracks saw weekend declines of around 10 percent, with Penn National’s $616,008 handle marking its fourth consecutive down Saturday and its lowest Saturday wagering in at least two months.
With no big races in the region this weekend — Monmouth carded two minor stakes, and Charles Town hosted a stake for West Virginia-breds — and Saratoga in full swing, it’s predictable that most of the region’s wagering would migrate north.
The region’s bright spot this weekend was Charles Town. The track handled more than $1.9 million on the weekend, its highest weekend handle since The Racing Biz began tracking at the beginning of June. That was powered by the track’s Saturday card, which handled more than $1.3 million — its highest single-day handle since the beginning of June.
TOTAL REGIONAL HANDLE BY WEEKEND
