"Taking several factors into account such as cancellations and continued competition, we are not disappointed by the numbers," said Turfway Park president Robert Elliston. "We had one of the largest average field sizes in the country at 10 starts per race during the Holiday Meet and the handicappers responded."
Turfway Park's Holiday Meet total average daily handle decreased 1.3% in 2002 from 2001 numbers, averaging $3,595,362. On-track daily average handle declined 5.2% to $333,123. Out of state numbers during the Holiday Meet rose 5.5%, and because of this, Turfway increased purses 5% beginning with its Jan. 3 card. For all of 2002, Turfway's on-track handle decreased 7.4% to $40,610,594, and total handle declined 8.1% to $371,058,997. The track raced a total of 105 days in 2002, four less than in 2001.
