ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2016) – A crowd of 72,811, the highest single-day attendance for a Breeders’ Cup since the event switched to a two-day format, cheered on as blossoming 3-year-old star, Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate, bested hometown favorite California Chrome, North America’s richest racehorse, at the wire to win the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic today at Santa Anita Park.
Saturday’s attendance at Santa Anita was the highest for any Breeders’ Cup day since 72,730 were on hand at Churchill Downs in 2010 to see legendary race mare Zenyatta in the final race of her career. The two-day attendance for 2016 was 118,484, the highest in Breeders’ Cup history.
Common-pool wagering on Saturday's 12-race Breeders' Cup card was $109,055,897, a 3.2% increase over the $105,625,491 wagered in 2015. Common-pool wagering for the two days was $159,991,803 an increase of 6.25% over the $150,574,656 total in 2015.
Saturday’s on-track handle was $13,515,269, an increase of 3.5% over last year’s on-track handle at Keeneland. The on-track handle at Santa Anita for the two days was $20,694,235.
“The Breeders’ Cup exists to showcase the very best of Thoroughbred racing and we witnessed that over the last two days,” Breeders' Cup President and CEO Craig Fravel said. “We want to thank racing fans here and around the world for watching and wagering on our event. Santa Anita showed again why it is such a spectacular venue for our championships and we also want to thank our hosts from the Stronach Group, its staff, our volunteers and the cites of Arcadia and Pasadena.”
Breeders’ Cup will release a complete event recap with total handle, including separate pools, early next week.
Breeders' Cup Two-Day Attendance and Handle (common-pool) history:
2016, Santa Anita Park – 118,484; $159,991,803 2015, Keeneland Race Course – 94,652; $150,574,656 2014, Santa Anita Park – 98,319; $151,794,174 2013, Santa Anita Park – 94,628; $160,704,877 (includes separate pools) 2012, Santa Anita Park – 89,742; $144,272,332 2011, Churchill Downs – 105,820; $161,512,867 2010, Churchill Downs – 114,353; $173,857,697 2009, Santa Anita Park – 96,496; $153,271,176 2008, Santa Anita Park – 86,588; $155,740,328 2007, Monmouth Park – 69,584; $129,197,262