Steady Handle at Gulfstream Park West Meet
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Gulfstream Park West
By Jim Freer and Barry Unterbrink
Average daily all-sources handle at this year's Gulfstream Park West meet was approximately $3.52 million, down 1% from the 2015 meet average of $3.56 million, according to a review of Equibase charts by HorseRacingFLA.com.
For the third straight October-November slate, Gulfstream Park held the Gulfstream Park West meet at Calder Casino in Miami Gardens under a lease of its racing operations. Despite problems with logistics at Calder and weather disruptions, daily handle nearly matched that of 2015.
The 2016 Gulstream Park West meet ran 37 race days, from Oct. 8 to Nov. 27. The 2015 GP West meet had 40 days. Gulfstream Park West all-sources handle was $142,233,760 in 2015 and at the shorter meet this year reached $130,072,079.
The meet fared well in terms of handle, considering that 21 races were taken off the turf because of weather conditions this year, compared with nine in 2015.