Laurel Summer Meet Big Boost To Maryland Racing
Laurel Summer Meet Big Boost To Maryland Racing
Maryland Pride Day All-Sources Handle Tops $3 Million
LAUREL, MD - Laurel Park's first summer meet in a decade was a positive for Maryland racing, with live in-state handle up well over $1 million for July and August and import handle up more than $500,000 per day over comparable dates in 2014.
Laurel's summer program, which started Friday, July 3 and ended Sunday afternoon, featured twilight racing on Fridays and Family Day on Sundays. It also produced an all-sources handle Saturday afternoon of more than $3 million during the inaugural Maryland Pride Day, highlighted by four stakes races and a victory by the popular 9-year-old gelding Ben's Cat. More than $1 million of Saturday's all-sources handle was wagered on-track and within the Maryland network.
Laurel also utilized its turf course, running half of its races during July and August over the turf and averaging more than nine starters per race over dirt and turf.
"We're delighted with the summer meet," said Maryland Jockey Club President and General Manager Sal Sinatra. "Our handle was up over comparable dates, which would have been Wednesday's in the fall and winter, and we had good crowds throughout the weekend. It seemed our fans liked our schedule and we saw more people come here that had never been here for twilight racing and family days. We're also extremely pleased with the $3 million on Maryland Pride Day, something we haven't seen at Laurel in quite some time.
"All in all, these last two months have convinced us that Laurel needs to run a portion of the summer in the future."
