Remington Park Thoroughbred Meet Handle Declines

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/21/2022 - 10:00
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Remington Park Thoroughbred Meet Handle Declines
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Photo: Dustin Orona Photography/Remington Park
The field breaks from the gate in the Dec. 17 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park

Remington Park capped its 2022 Thoroughbred Season when Wildatlanticstorm won the track's richest 2-year-old race, the $400,000 Springboard Mile, on Saturday, Dec. 17. That grand finale on a cool evening ended a 67-date season that began in the August summer heat. 

The Remington Park season, the first completely removed from the pandemic years and restrictions endured in 2020-2021, had its challenges with weather and consistency that contributed to declines in wagering. The 67-date season (Aug. 19-Dec. 17) produced total pari-mutuel handle on Remington Park racing of $85,761,227, a decrease of 12.6% from 2021.

The export handle, from all sources outside Remington Park's controlled jurisdiction, was $82,494,002, a 12.7% decrease compared to 2021. 

Remington Park's on-track live handle was $3,129,587, a drop of 9.8% compared to last year. 

The lone Remington Park partner off-track location, Thunder Roadhouse in north Oklahoma City, had $137,638 wagered on Remington Park racing, down 8.9% from last year.

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A total of 4,832 horses started throughout the season's 600 races, for an average field size of 8.05. That is a decrease of 3.2% from 2021 when 4,991 horses competed in 601 races for an average field size of 8.3. Field size dropped low enough in 27 races this season to force superfecta wagering to be canceled. In two more races, the field size fell too low to conduct trifecta or show wagering.

Total purses of $17,603,613, equating to a daily average of $262,740, only 1.3% lower from the record amount of $17,838,020 that horsemen competed to earn in 2021. 

Weather did hamper Remington Park racing this season on these affected dates:

  • Oct. 15, one race canceled due to heavy thunderstorms.
  • Oct. 29, all nine races canceled due to rains and wet track surface.
  • Nov. 26, seven races canceled due to rains and wet track surface.
  • Dec. 8, a rare occurrence of heavy fog canceled the final two races.

Live racing will return to Remington Park in March 2023 with the beginning of the American Quarter Horse Season and in August 2023 when the Thoroughbred Season starts.