Saratoga Race Course meet getting bigger

And then there were 40.

The New York Racing Association has expanded the 36-day Saratoga Race Course meeting by four days, starting in 2010.

Saratoga will open its doors for racing on Friday, July 23, 2010 and continue each day except Tuesday through Labor Day, Sept. 6. All 40 days are expected to include at least one stakes race.

The Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies is scheduled to be moved to Saratoga's new opening weekend, pending approval from the NYRA Board of Directors. It has been run during Belmont Park's spring-summer meet.

Saratoga's traditional 24-day August meet was expanded to 30 days in 1991 and 34 days in 1994, and has been steady at 36 days since 1997.


"The expansion to four racing days was a measured decision that reflects the overwhelming demand for racing that we have from horsemen in Saratoga," NYRA president and CEO Charlie Hayward said.

"At a time when many tracks in the country had to cut back on racing days, we not only continued to run six days a week at Saratoga, but did so with more horses entered per race as compared to last year.

"This reflects the high demand for quality racing at Saratoga and is a very positive indicator for expanding the 2010 meet."

Average betting interests per race rose 3.1 percent, from 8.13 in 2008 to 8.38 this summer, and total betting interests went from 2,919 in 2008 to 3,058 this year, an increase of 4.8 percent.

Saratoga was down 1.7 percent in all-sources handle to $513.8 million, with slight declines in on-track attendance (-2.1 percent) and handle (-2.2 percent). It is a sharp contrast to the national trend, where wagering was down 12.5 percent in August, according to Equibase.