Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Saratoga Tops in NA Purse Distribution

January 6, 2010

While Saratoga Race Course offers plenty of tradition and atmosphere, it also continues to offer cold, hard cash.

In terms of average daily purse distribution, Saratoga placed first for North American race meetings in 2009 at $729,100. While purses at the upstate New York track were down 8%, it still ranked first in average purse by awarding an average of $71,911 per race.

Keeneland Race Course’s two meets placed second and third in average daily purse distribution. The fall meeting ranked second at $608,730, followed closely by the spring meet at $601,950. Both Saratoga and Keeneland feature relatively short meetings, with Saratoga offering 36 days in ‘09 while Keeneland offered 17 fall dates and 15 spring dates.

Rounding out North America’s top five meets by average daily purse distribution in ’09 are the Belmont fall meet ($556,545) and Del Mar ($544,295).

When the Breeders’ Cup World Championship purses are included, Oak Tree at Santa Anita finished as the most lucrative North American meeting in 2009 at $1,098,597 in daily purse distribution. The accompanying table does not include the Breeders’ Cup purses for Oak Tree’s 31-day meet. Without those purses, it did not finish in the top ten.

Of meets with at least $100,000 in average daily purse distribution that had comparable meetings conducted in ‘08, the biggest improvements were registered at the Fresno Fair, which was up 36% to $100,658; and Hoosier Park, up 33% to $188,060.

A complete listing of purses by track meeting is included in this week’s (issue date January 9, 2010) THOROUGHBRED TIMES magazine. The table includes meet dates, number of racing days, average daily purse distribution, percentage change from previous year, total number of races, average purse, average overnight purse, and average stakes purse.

North American race meetings, by average daily purses
Track, meet                        Average daily purse distribution
Saratoga Race Course                     $729,100
Keeneland Race Course, fall            $608,730
Keeneland Race Course, spring       $601,950
Belmont Park, fall                          $556,546
Del Mar                                         $544,295
Woodbine                                       $490,297
Churchill Downs, spring/summer      $474,177
Belmont Park, spring/summer          $451,576
Santa Anita Park                             $422,950
Hollywood Park, spring/summer        $417,333