Attendance, Handle Gains Continue at Santa Anita

Santa Anita continues to report gains in both on-track attendance and total all-sources handle as the track prepares for the final weekend of its Classic meet. The season kicked off Dec. 26 with the largest non-weekend or holiday opening day crowd in 34 years. To date, Santa Anita has hosted more than 293,000 visitors during the Classic Meet, a gain of more than 8% over last year. Last weekend's on-track crowd was up over 30%.

The total all-sources mutuel handle, paced by the opening day number of more than $21.4 million, currently stands at $414 million, a 4% increase over last year. Over the last weekend, horseplayers on-track and around the world wagered over $20 million.

Field size, bolstered by an influx of Northern California horses, is up 8% over the corresponding time last year, with 307 horses entered the final three days of the meet.