Attendance Up, Handle Down at Santa Anita

Santa Anita Park reported a 3% increase in on-track attendance and a 5% decrease in all-sources pari-mutuel handle for its 99-day winter/spring meet, which ended July 10.

Officials in a release said handle was "on par" with the comparable 2015 meet through April 10. Santa Anita closed for three weeks while Los Alamitos Race Course held its spring meet through May 5, and turf racing was suspended June 20 at Santa Anita while the course was being replaced.

A release said those factors led to a 5% drop in all-sources handle. Exact figures weren't immediately provided.

"Although there was an element of short-term sacrifice with no turf racing available for the final three weeks of the meet, the benefits of the newly installed Bandera Bermuda turf, which will be available for use opening day of the track's autumn meet on Sept. 30, will be of tremendous long-term benefit to horsemen and fans alike," the release said.

The winter-spring meet in 2015 spanned 103 days. Last year the early Los Alamitos meet was held just before the opening of Del Mar.

Purses for this year's Santa Anita meet totaled $49.21 million versus $50.53 million last year for four more racing days, according to The Jockey Club Information Systems. Field size this year averaged 6.87 horses per race, down from 7.64 in 2015.