As the horse racing industry and the rest of the country try to dig their way out of four years of a deep recession, any sign of good economic news is gladly welcomed. New information released this morning indicates that wagering, purses and race days made a sizable jump up when compared to similar time frames in 2011. Today, Equibase released Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicator for February of 2012 and Year-To-Date. The numbers compare handle, purses and race days from February of 2012 with those same metrics in February of 2011. They also compare Year-To-Date data from 2012 to the same period in 2012.
Total handle on U.S. races increased 7.60% when compared to wagering in February of 2011, and purses jumped almost 14%. For the year, wagering is up 3.24% when compared to 2011, with an 8.26% increase in purses over roughly the same number of race days (+0.78%).
Below is the data released by Equibase:
| February 2012 vs. February 2011 | |||
| Indicator | Feb. 2012 | Feb. 2011 | % Change |
| Wagering on US Races | $884,149,099 | $821,676,865 | 7.60% |
| US Purses | $70,992,753 | $62,311,174 | 13.93% |
| US Race Days | 332 | 312 | 6.41% |
| Year-To-Date | |||
| Indicator | YTD 2012 | YTD 2011 | % Change |
| Wagering on US Races | $1,702,844,131 | $1,649,465,107 | 3.24% |
| US Purses | $136,819,798 | $126,379,531 | 8.26% |
| US Race Days | 647 | 642 | 0.78% |
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