All-sources pari-mutuel handle is up 10.3% year-to-date at Tampa Bay Downs, which puts the Florida racetrack on course to average more than $4 million per day and finish with its highest wagering total since the 2010-11 meet.
Gulfstream had all-sources pari-mutuel handle of $20,583,598 for its 12-race Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) card Feb. 21, its second-best wagering total on a non-Florida Derby (gr. I) day since it opened its new facility.
A Florida-based company said Feb. 12 it will enter the historical race wagering market as a systems, platform, tote, and game provider.
Legislation that would permit the Kentucky General Assembly to approve a new game linking Thoroughbred racing and the state lottery unanimously cleared a Senate committee Feb. 10.
The Stronach Group remains optimistic about the future of the horse racing industry in North America and will continue to push for what it believes are fundamental structural changes needed to move the business forward.
Advance deposit wagering via phone began Jan. 31 in Arizona, according to the Arizona Department of Racing. However, for the time being, residents of Pima County won't be permitted to wager on Thoroughbred races.
Turfway Park will increase purses effective Jan. 30 with a slight across-the-board bump and an extra race per week, officials said.
National Thoroughbred Racing Association officials met with a representative of the United States Department of Treasury Jan. 28 to discuss the racing industry's efforts to alter the pari-mutuel withholding tax structure.
The Organization of Racing Investigators will hold its 2015 training conference March 1-4 at New Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.
Centaur Gaming Jan. 12 said it is closing its off-track betting parlor in Merrillville, Ind., not far from the Illinois and Michgan borders, because of declines in business.
EquiLottery, which aims to link state lotteries with pari-mutuel pools, moved forward in Kentucky Jan. 8 when state Sen. Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) filed a bill that would permit such a collaboration.
Legislation to authorize a pari-mutuel tax break for Keeneland, which will host this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships, has been filed in the Kentucky General Assembly.
Total pari-mutuel handle on United States harness racing in 2014 was $1.49 billion, down about 6.6% from $1.60 billion in 2013, according to the United States Trotting Association.
The Maryland Jockey Club reported a decrease in pari-mutuel handle on live racing at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in 2014, but total and average purses were up from 2013.
Despite racing two fewer programs during its 2014 holiday meet, Turfway Park registered a 21.45% increase in total pari-mutuel handle compared with the comparable meet in 2013.
Gulfstream Park said Jan. 1 its total pari-mutuel handle on live racing in 2014 was a record $1.2 billion for one year.
Hawthorne Race Course reported increases in average daily pari-mutuel handle for its 2014 fall/winter meet, which ended Dec. 31.
Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course ended its inaugural meet Dec. 30 with record total pari-mutuel handle of $1,102,566.
A war of words in a dispute between two cooperatives that negotiate simulcast fees continued Dec. 8 when the MidAtlantic Cooperative, which represents 23 racetracks, said Monarch Content Management misstated facts.
Wagering on United States races for the month of November declined by more than $50 million in 2014 when compared to the previous year, due in great measure to the first day of the Breeders' Cup falling on Oct. 31.
Historical race wagering at two Kentucky racetracks registered healthy increases in October versus the same month in 2013, according to statistics released by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Officials at Turfway Park, which begins its four-month run of live racing Dec. 1, are hoping response at the entry box for the first two programs continues through December and into next year.
The first of six programs Yonkers Raceway is sending to France for wagering purposes generated solid pari-mutuel handle and could be used to spark similar racing industry endeavors.
The Friday, Oct. 31, program of the Breeders' Cup World Championships helped lead to a 2.72% increase in total commingled pari-mutuel handle on United States racing in October compared with the same month in 2013.
Breeders' Cup reported a 4% bump in attendance and a 3% decrease in total pari-mutuel handle for its Nov. 1 program at Santa Anita Park compared with the Saturday card in 2013.
Breeders' Cup for its Oct. 31 program reported a gain in attendance but a decline in total pari-mutuel handle compared with the first day of the 2013 World Championships.
After a 10.49% increase in total pari-mutuel handle in 2013 compared with 2012, Breeders' Cup officials are hoping for more gains this year. But they'll have to come in another year of depressed wagering.
Delaware Park officials reported a decline in pari-mutuel handle for the 2014 racing season that ended Oct. 22 but said they will continue to explore ways to strengthen the product in a gambling-congested Mid-Atlantic region.
Keeneland and The Red Mile, a Lexington harness track, have officially agreed to consolidate historical racing machines in one facility that will be built at The Red Mile.
Wagering on United States Thoroughbred races for September was down 10.55% from the corresponding month in 2013, according to the Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators released by Equibase Oct. 4.
According to a Thoroughbred Racing Associations study, money from added-gaming sources now accounts for more than one-third of the purse money awarded in U.S. Thoroughbred racing.
Monmouth Park reported increases in on-track and export pari-mutuel handle, as well as attendance, for its 57-day meet that ended Sept. 28.
The California Horse Racing Board will move forward with a committee recommendation that it urge the horse racing industry to examine the issue of pari-mutuel takeout and its effect on wagering.
California Chrome may have lost the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), but the potential for a Triple Crown winner helped to drive up the New York Racing Association's overall pari-mutuel handle in the first half of 2014.
EquiLottery, a game based on the results of live races, has picked up support from leading Thoroughbred breeding farms in Kentucky, president and chief executive officer Brad Cummings said Sept. 11.
The Texas Racing Commission has indicated it won't address historical race wagering at its Aug. 12 meeting because it needs more time to study it.
Indiana Grand Racing & Casino has converted a 9,600-square-foot casino restaurant into an upscale off-track betting parlor that will be open year-round.
EquiLottery, a new game that would link state lotteries and pari-mutuel racing pools, will be introduced to the New Mexico Racing Commission at its Aug. 21 meeting.
Equibase reports pari-mutuel wagering on United States Thoroughbred races in July was down 3.47% and purses fell 5.67% from the same month a year ago with 13 fewer race days.
Advance deposit wagering and historical race wagering are on the West Virginia Racing Commission's legislative wish list for 2015.
Los Alamitos Race Course officials July 13 said the eight-day summer Thoroughbred meet generated average daily total pari-mutuel handle of $5,070,966.
A new game that links state lotteries with pari-mutuel pools is billing itself "the greatest two dollars in sports." EquiLottery, a lottery quick-pick game, was officially announced July 9.
Penn National Gaming Inc. will open a new off-track wagering facility in southern New Jersey July 2. It will be the fifth OTW facility in New Jersey.
Growth in out-of-state wagering on its product helped Pimlico Race Course record an increase in average daily pari-mutuel handle for the 2014 spring meet.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association June 5 reported growing support for its effort to change the way pari-mutuel winnings are calculated for tax purposes.
Though boosted by major racing days May 2-3 and a fifth Saturday in the month, worldwide commingled wagering on United States Thoroughbred races increased only 0.92% for May versus the same month in 2013.
The NTRA said June 3 members of Congress have asked the U.S. Department of Treasury to clarify regulations on the taxing of pari-mutuel wagers. The trade organization also is asking bettors to support an online petition.
The Maryland Jockey Club reported record attendance for the May 17 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) program as well as an increase in total wagering from 2013.
Weather conditions impacted the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) program at Pimlico Race Course May 16. Total wagering on the card was down more than 13% from last year.
TVG said it posted significant gains in wagering for the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) program.
