I just read a report with some handle figures from around theworld. Last year the US handled just over $15 billion on parimutuelracing. Take a guess at what country leads the world in bettingon horse racing? The answer is Japan. In 2003 over $30 billionwas bet on Japanese racing.
The really interesting stat is the number of races held. In2003 there were 53,503 races held in the United States. For thesame year there were only 22,274 races held in Japan. It seemsthat the handle is 4 times higher per race in Japan than in theUnited States. I think that is an amazing figure. Just to keepthe poor US numbers in perspective take a look at Great Britain.There were only 4,572 races but the amount wagered was $12.6 billion.These figures are from Autotote's website.
The Breeders' Cup has announced a reduction in the number of board members.Hopefully this will result in a better performance from the board of directors!
