Even though the Lone Star Park meet ended on a subdued note when the final three days were cancelled due to extreme heat, the track concluded its 22nd Thoroughbred season with a record increase of 14.7% in average daily handle over 2017. That increase tops last year’s increase over 2016 of 11.7%, which set a track record a year ago. Daily average on-track handle on Lone Star increased 5.7% from 2017 and daily average export Handle increased by 17.6%.
Especially noticeable is the growth over the last two seasons. Daily average export handle increased 36.4% from 2016 and is indicative of the increased awareness from a High-Definition upgrade to the video production beginning with the 2018 season as well as airing races on the TVG Network beginning in 2017. Additionally, the Lone Star racing product was more attractive to bettors with an average field size of 8.4 starters per race, which was above the industry average and nearly a 1 horse per race increase over 2017. The increased field size was helped by a purse increase this season.
The all sources handle daily average of just over $1 million per day is the highest daily average since the 2010 Thoroughbred season.