Despite buzz of Big Brown, Preakness handle down
After four straight years of handle topping $87 million, wagering on the Preakness program declined 15.8 percent in a year-over-year comparison with the 2007 card.
All-sources handle, not including separate-pool wagering, was $73,457,510 for the 13-race card, according to data released by the Maryland Jockey Club, down from the $87,194,161 last year, and 19.3 percent lower than the record $91,028,704 in 2005.
Total handle on the Preakness itself this year was $45,689,452, down 20.3 percent from last year’s race in which Curlin turned the tables on respective 2007 Derby winner and runner-up Street Sense and Hard Spun. Only Gayego, who finished 17th to Big Brown in the Derby, followed the winner from Churchill Downs to Pimlico.
Unlike the Derby, where the barring of the Churchill Downs signal to several advance deposit wagering companies and Calder Race Course likely factored into a 2 percent decline in handle, the Preakness program was available to virtually all the betting outlets that handled the event last year.
My take: Big Brown was such a favorite, that people weren’t going to make money off him, so they chose not to bet. And the Eight Belles injury in the Derby certainly could have scared a few people away.
