The Dirt on Keeneland Opening Day Numbers
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With sporadic rain showers throughout the day for the fall meet's opening day Oct. 3 at Keeneland, which also marked the return to dirt for the Lexington track, attendance and handle figures were down compared with last year.
Attendance for Friday's opening day was 13,789, down 10.4% compared with last year's opener, which saw spectacular weather. On-track handle also was down 10.4% to $1,366,565 compared with last year. Total handle was off 24.2% to $7,530,007.
Besides the rainy weather, the drop in handle also could be attributed to bettors assessing the new main track surface, and smaller field sizes. Opening day this year saw 84 starters, off 22.2% compared with last year. Two scheduled turf races were moved to the main track because of the rain, resulting in six scratches attributed to the surface change.
After this year's spring meet, Keeneland removed its Polytrack and replaced it with a dirt surface.
At first glance, the main track appeared fair to all runners with several different running styles enjoying success. The only two horses who did not finish their races Friday were walked off the track.