Both attendance and handle for the 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs increased over last year's event at Santa Anita Park, Breeders' Cup officials announced after the conclusion of the two-day event Nov. 6.
There were 72,739 were on hand for the concluding 11-race card that included eight Breeders’ Cup World Championship races. That was a 23.6% increase from the 2009 final-day attendance of 58,845 at Santa Anita. After an 11% increase in attendance for the first-day Friday program, total attendance for the two days increased 18.5% from 96,496 in 2009 to 114,353 in 2010.
The two-day common pool total was $163,619,784, an increase of 13% over the $144,599,205 wagered in 2009. Helped out by a $5.2 million Pick 6 carryover pool, the common-pool handle for Saturday’s 10-race card was $110,609,159, an increase of 15% from the comparable 2009 common-pool handle of $96,159,747. The $53,010,625 wagered on Friday's card was an increase of 9% over the $48,439,458 bet on the first-day card in 2009.
On-track handle increased both days compared to 2009. Saturday’s on-track handle was $14,476,867 an increase of 19% over the $12,177,982 wagered on-track in 2009.
Complete all-sources Breeders’ Cup handle numbers, including separate pool and exchange wagering, will be available early next week.