All-source handle for the 50-day spring/summer meet at Betfair Hollywood Park was down by about 2% over 2011 on an average daily basis, the track reported July 20.
Declines in out-of-state wagering on the Hollywood product caused the dip in all-source wagering, the track reported. The average all-source daily figure was $9,064,114 in 2012, compared to $9,251,001 a year earlier when Hollywood raced a total of 54 days.
Hollywood's daily attendance was off by 0.9%, the track reported, though no actual figures were provided.
Bolstered by an unspecified increase in advance deposit wagering, the track reported that the daily average Southern California handle of $4,773,009 was up 0.2% from the average of $4,763,002 during the 2011 season.
Track president Jack Liebau said the results were generally heartening considering the industry's problem of keeping a strong ready-to-run horse inventory in California.
Average field size was 7.48 per race, off 2.6% from last year's average of 7.69 starters.
"Considering our expectations going into the meet, I thought, relatively speaking, we did very well," said Liebau.
Hollywood was forced to cut purses in June because of lower-than-expected wagering numbers in the first two months of the meet.
On the positive side, Liebau was pleased by the results of the second year of the "Players' Pick 5," a 50-cent minimum wager with a California low takeout rate of 14%. Handle on the wager grew by 14% over the 2011 spring/summer stand to more than $230,000 per day.
"The wagering public continued to respond well to the lower takeout of the Players' Pick 5,’" said Liebau.
Betfair Hollywood Park will open its 2012 fall/winter meet Nov. 8; the season runs through Dec. 16.
Betfair Hollywood Park
Benoit Photo