September Economic Indicators, Wagering Lower Even Though Purses Rose

[Wandering Eyes]

Wagering on U.S. races was lower, but available and paid purses both saw increases when compared to a year ago in September, while the number of race days and races themselves saw an uptick during the month, according to information released by Equibase on Friday.

Total wagering of $783,857,564 on races during the month represented a 10.96% decrease over the same period from 2023, while available purses of over $138 million were up by 2.90%. The figure of over $131 million for paid purses in September was up 2.26%. As for the total number of race days, they went from 375 to 390 (+4.00%) and the number of U.S. races was up from 2,930 in September 2023 to last month's tally of 2,996 (+2.25%).

Average field size in September was lower from over a year ago when it was 7.34, and checked in at an average of 7.25 runners, a decrease of 1.30%. Average daily wagering decreased by 14.39% to $2,009,891 and the average available purse number per race day was down 1.05% to $354,078 from the figure of $357,846 in 2023.

When it comes to the year-to-date figures, through September of 2023 wagering on U.S. races came in at $9.1 billion, while this year the amount is 8.865 billion (-2.89%). Those numbers include worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

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