Handle takes predictable drop

Handle on this year’s Belmont Stakes was nowhere near normal, but there was nothing nearly normal about this year’s Belmont Stakes.

Total handle on the 10-horse race this year, including all multi-race bets ending in the Belmont, was $34.1 million, according to a chart of the race, well below what a typical non-Triple Crown Belmont would draw. However, the Belmont this year was technically the first leg of the Triple Crown, instead of the last; it was run at the shortened distance of 1 1/8 miles, instead of 1 1/2 miles; and was held in the midst of a pandemic that has disrupted daily life across the U.S., including at the track, where no spectators were on hand Saturday throughout Belmont’s cavernous grandstand.

In recent years, the Belmont Stakes has typically handled around $50 million in a year in which no Triple Crown is on the line, and $80 million when a horse has a shot at it. The Kentucky Derby, the most famous of the three races and the first leg of the Triple Crown in a normal year, set a record for any race ever held in the U.S. last year, when it drew $159.6 million in bets last year.

For this year’s Belmont, total win, place, and show betting was $12.03 million, while handle in the exacta and trifecta pools both hovered around $6.5 million. A pick four ending in the race had $1.16 million in bets, and a pick five ending in the race drew $2.13 million. Altogether, the $34.1 million in bets made the Belmont the highest-handling race of the year.

Total handle for the 12-race card at Belmont on Saturday was $67.75 million, according to the New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont. The card featured six stakes races.

The Kentucky Derby is next in line in the asterisked Triple Crown, scheduled for Sept. 5. The Preakness Stakes will be the third leg this year, scheduled for Oct. 3.

Racing is one of the few sports being conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sport has little competition in the gambling world, although this weekend was the second in which the PGA Tour hosted a tournament. Fortunately for racing, account-wagering is legal in many states, and with most tracks still banning spectators, it has become the sole source of revenue for the facilities.