Total wagers on US thoroughbred races in February down from last year

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Total wagering on the Thoroughbred Racing in the month of February 2023 decreased -5.21% to $863,337,949 from last year’s total of $910,782,914 at the same time despite six additional race days during the month according to numbers released by Equibase. Part of the decline can be attributed to declines at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas and weather-related race day cancelations at Santa Anita Park in California.

Purses for the month were up +7.08% to $81,187,588 compared to the same timeframe last year when it was only $75,816,927. The remaining indicators used to measure racing’s performance – with their year over year comparison to February 2022, is: the number of race days (+2.33%; 263 to 257), the number of races (+3.20%; 2,228 to 2,159), the number of starts (+3.24%; 16,894 to 16,364) and the average field size (+0.04%; 7.58 to 7.58).