Turfway Park ended its 2007 Holiday Meet with wagering on its races down 1% on-track and down 16.4% from all sources compared to the same period in 2006. The 27-day meet ran from Nov. 25 through Dec. 31.
The drop in all-sources wagering is largely attributable to factors affecting out-of-state account wagering.
“A significant portion of our out-of-state decline results from the loss of two major outlets, AmericaTAB and IRG (International Racing Group),” said Robert N. Elliston, president of Turfway Park. “AmericaTAB is now part of the Tracknet Media group, and our signal is unavailable via that venue due to a longstanding exclusive agreement with TVG. A matter involving IRG is currently under investigation and we chose not to provide our signal to that outlet until the matter is resolved.
“Our 2006 Holiday Meet was extraordinarily strong, and except for these two factors we had every reason to be optimistic those growth levels could have continued.”
On-track wagering on Turfway races during the period totaled $3,445,738. All-sources wagering came to $73,712,679.
Wagering by patrons at Turfway on all races, including simulcast races from other tracks, was up 4.1%. Purses also rose, showing a gain of 5.4%. Field size held virtually steady at 10.1 horses per race, compared to 10.2 last year.
John McKee earned his second Turfway riding title with 28 wins from 140 mounts. Michael Maker finished atop the Turfway trainer standings for the first time, sending out 12 winners from 38 starters. And Ken and Sarah Ramsey had 6 winners from 20 starters to take leading owner honors at Turfway for the second time this year. The longtime Kentucky owners also won the Winter/Spring Meet title.
Turfway opened its 2008 Winter/Spring Meet on Jan. 1. Live racing continues through April 3, with the meet feature, The Lane’s End Stakes (gr. II), set for March 22.
Turfway Park
