By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 6, 2016) –A crowd of 72,811 at Santa Anita Park Nov. 5 set a record for the highest single-day attendance for a Breeders’ Cup World Championships since the event switched to a two-day format.
Saturday’s attendance at Santa Anita was the highest for any Breeders’ Cup day since 72,730 were on hand at Churchill Downs in 2010 to see Zenyatta in the final race of her career. The two-day attendance for 2016 was 118,484, the highest in Breeders’ Cup history.
Common-pool wagering on Saturday’s 12-race Breeders’ Cup card was $109,055,897, a 3.2% increase over the $105,625,491 wagered in 2015. Common-pool wagering for the two days was $159,991,803, an increase of 6.25% over the $150,574,656 total in 2015.
Saturday’s on-track handle was $13,515,269, an increase of 3.5% over last year’s on-track handle at Keeneland. The on-track handle at Santa Anita for the two days was $20,694,235.
“The Breeders’ Cup exists to showcase the very best of Thoroughbred racing and we witnessed that over the last two days,” said Breeders’ Cup president and chief executive officer Craig Fravel. “We want to thank racing fans here and around the world for watching and wagering on our event. Santa Anita showed again why it is such a spectacular venue for our championships, and we also want to thank our hosts from The Stronach Group, its staff, our volunteers, and the cities of Arcadia and Pasadena.”
Breeders’ Cup will release a complete event recap with total handle, including separate pools, early next week.
Breeders’ Cup’s Two-Day Attendance and Handle* History:
*common pool
2016 Santa Anita Park – 118,484; $159,991,803
2015 Keeneland – 94,652; $150,574,656
2014 Santa Anita Park – 98,319; $151,794,174
2013 Santa Anita Park – 94,628; $160,704,877 (includes separate pools)
2012 Santa Anita Park – 89,742; $144,272,332
2011 Churchill Downs – 105,820; $161,512,867
2010 Churchill Downs – 114,353; $173,857,697
2009 Santa Anita Park – 96,496; $153,271,176
2008 Santa Anita Park – 86,588; $155,740,328
2007 Monmouth Park – 69,584; $129,197,262