Wagering, Purses Up In April Economic Indicators

An increase in race days in April 2026 led to bumps in both wagering and purses across the United States compared to April of 2025.

The month saw 2,170 races (+2.99%) across 259 race days (+2.78%) which pushed wagering totals to $898,254,315 (+2.23%). Purses were also up, with paid purses jumping to $95,634,866 (+9.14%).

Average wagering per race day dipped slightly to $3,468,163 (-0.53%) while field size also fell to 7.30 (-5.38%) and starts dropped to 15,837 (-2.55%).

Year over year, available and paid purses remained in the green at $356,025,415 (+1.12%) and $337,882,857 (+1.26%) respectively. Wagering on U.S. races year to date finish the month at $3,225,170,563 (-4.69%).