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Economic Indicators Up For February 2012 and Year-To-Date

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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%