NYRA CEO Pleased With Numbers for 'Longest' Spa Meet

While New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke called the longest-ever Saratoga Race Course "vibrant," he's also looking forward to getting back to the old days at the Spa. "Saratoga is one of the things you don't want to change too much," he said. "We ran a lot up here the last three years and we were nervous about diluting it. I think the four days for July 4th got a real positive reception. I get asked about that a lot. But right now, our focus is on getting to Belmont Park, so we haven't contemplated anything for next year in terms of changing. The plan is to go back to the standard 40-day meet through Labor Day." The need for racing at the Spa on July 4 will be eliminated Sept. 18 when Belmont Park re-opens for the first time in three years after about a half-billion-dollar worth of remodeling, and racing on that holiday weekend can return to a downstate setting. During the summers of 2024-26, the additional racing at Saratoga also included three renewals of the Belmont Stakes (G1) at the Spa. This year saw the July 4 dates folded into the Saratoga meet, creating a record 46-day meet that O'Rourke labeled as "great." "The weather played ball. The fans seemed to really have a great time. Numbers were strong. The handle was strong, specifically given the CAW guardrails we endeavored on," he said. The handle was of particular concern since earlier this year NYRA took the lead in establishing guardrails to keep huge CAW bets from shrinking odds seconds before betting closes but sustained lower handle figures initially. Considering that CAW wagering had previously accounted for about 20% of NYRA's handle, the solid wagering numbers at the Spa reflected the wisdom in closing off CAW play at least a minute before post time. Through Sept. 5 and Day 44 of the 46-day meet, Saratoga's handle stood at $861,497,947. That figure includes just 43 days of racing as the July 29 card was cancelled due to extreme rain. A year ago, NYRA handled $1,072,548,535 in all of its days at the Spa, including Belmont Stakes week and the Fourth of July, which was considered part of the Belmont at the Big A meet. With the $199,913,500 wagered at the Spa this year during Belmont Stakes week, it pushed the handle to $1.061 billion with two days of racing left and set the stage for easily surpassing last year's gross handle. "In terms of our wagering forecasts for the year, we hit the over," O'Rourke said. "We thought it would be low single figures, and it should be a little better than that. Retail wagering is up 6%. Retail players churn more and they stick with you. With the CAWs, there was a volatility and a customer experience issue. Reducing the volatility gave people more confidence to play our races. The reception to what we did has been positive. In the long run, it was fundamental to do it for our customers. In the short term, we knew there would be a cost, but we felt we were making an investment in the future." On the attendance front, it stood at 988,396 after 44 days and is certain to exceed the 1 million mark for an 11th straight year, discounting the 2020 meet during the pandemic. "I thought there was momentum throughout the meet," O'Rourke said. "If you start off right, the momentum can carry you through the meet, especially with the wagering side, and we achieved that." All in all, given everything that is going on at NYRA with the impending re-opening of Belmont, O'Rourke was quite satisfied with the "longest-ever" Spa meet. "I think a lot of the things the Events team has been doing has really resonated the last two years," he said. "We had mascot races, Corgi races. We've leaned heavily into Family Days and the Star program, and it's working. It allows us to expand our demographics. We pride ourselves in being family-friendly by trying to maintain price points given all the inflation pressure, and I believe we've managed to achieve it. "We had a smooth meet and at the same time we have people working hard to get Belmont Park ready. The racing office put together an amazing program and they have adapted well to the landscape, especially this week with more dirt races as turf horses go to Kentucky Downs."