Colonial Downs Figures Up

Colonial Downs showed increases in attendance and handle for its first ever summer Thoroughbred meet that ended Tuesday.

The 25-day meet was seven days shorter than the 2000 meeting, and was moved from the fall to a mid-summer schedule.

Average attendance of 1,940 per program at the Virginia track was up 61% from the 1,208 averaged in 2000. Total attendance was up to 48,500, 25% better than the 38,652 attendees in 2000 despite less race days.

Average on-track handle was up 21% to $165,829 from $136,969. The total on-track handle of $4,145,716 was down 5% from $4,382,997.

The out-of-state handle averaged $904,823, an increase of 27% from $715,044 in 2000. Total out-of-state handle of $22,620,582 was down from the $22,881,422 posted in 2000.

The daily average total handle was up 27%, $1,103,188 compared to $870,655. The cumulative handle was $27,579,707, down 1% from the $27,860,950 handled in 2000.

A. Ferris Allen III won his fifth straight training title, saddling 10 winners from 63 starters. Jockey Mario Pino won his third straight championship by riding 49 winners from 175 mounts.