Saratoga Reports Strong Handle Numbers for 2026 Meets

Despite new rules in place on computer-assisted wagering that saw those players reduce play during the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meet, the New York Racing Association Sept. 7 reported strong numbers from the meet as retail players increased their play.

On Monday, NYRA reported wagering handle of more than $900 million at the 2026 summer meet at Saratoga, which generated paid attendance exceeding 1 million fans for the 11th consecutive year. Handle was up 3.5% compared with last year's meet and average daily handle improved as well.

"In terms of our wagering forecasts for the year, we hit the over," NYRA CEO David O'Rourke previously told BloodHorse. "Retail wagering is up 6%. Retail players churn more and they stick with you."

Paid attendance during the 2026 Saratoga summer meet was 1,045,373 with wagering handle of $905,425,541. This includes $60,863,320 wagered on Travers day and $46,866,128 on Whitney day, the second-highest in history for each of the respective days.

A year ago, NYRA handled $1,072,548,535 in all of its days at the Spa, including Belmont Stakes week and the Fourth of July week racing, which was considered part of the Belmont at the Big A meet. Over the 50 days of racing at Saratoga in 2026, inclusive of the 45-day summer meet and five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, wagering handle totaled $1,105,339,004 (up 3%) with paid attendance of 1,149,677.

O'Rourke said the new rules applying to CAW helped reduce instances and severity of late odds changes in the pari-mutuel pools.

"With the CAWs, there was a volatility and a customer experience issue," O'Rourke said. "Reducing the volatility gave people more confidence to play our races. The reception to what we did has been positive. In the long run, it was fundamental to do it for our customers. In the short term, we knew there would be a cost, but we felt we were making an investment in the future."

The 2026 summer meet served as a bookend to a historic three-year period for Saratoga, which hosted the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from 2024-2026 and the July 4th Racing Festival in 2025-2026 to allow for the construction of a new Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

"We close this unprecedented chapter in Saratoga's history with immense gratitude for the support of our fans, racing participants, and the Saratoga community," O'Rourke said. "The popularity of horse racing in New York was on full display this summer, and we look forward to a new era for Belmont Park beginning September 18."

Saratoga Live, the critically acclaimed and award-winning show produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, featured daily coverage and in-depth analysis of the summer meet across the FOX Sports family of networks for the 11th consecutive year. In addition, FOX Saratoga Saturday presented by Oceania Cruises aired on the FOX broadcast network over seven consecutive Saturdays.

Belmont Park will reopen Sept. 18. 

As previously announced, NYRA plans to return to a 40-day summer meet in 2027 at Saratoga. The 2026 Saratoga summer meet was conducted across 45 days after heavy rains forced the cancellation of live racing on July 29.