Keeneland officials reported a spike in attendance for this year's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) card April 8 and cited improved on-track handle, although total pari-mutuel handle was slightly down.
While the crowd of 32,610 that turned out for the Blue Grass card does not rank in the top 10 spring meet crowds, it was up 56% from last year. On-track handle improved 10% to $2,387,633.
Total mutuel handle on the day's card reached $20,586,859, which was down 3% compared with last year's record single-day spring meet handle. Saturday's handle total handle ranks fourth for any single day in Keeneland spring meet history.
Keeneland's All-Stakes Pick Five, encompassing the day's five stakes races, handled $633,000 to eclipse all previous non-carryover Pick Five pools. The All-Stakes Pick Four, which ended with the Blue Grass, handled an all-time Keeneland record $733,000. The late Pick Four, which ended in race 11, handled $546,000. Taken together, the three big multi-leg wagers handled $1.912 million, a 32% increase from 2016.
