Del Mar, Saratoga thrive

Good news in horse racing typically drips out. Bad news seems to flood like water from a broken dike. Thus, it was refreshing to hear that Del Mar and Saratoga had solid runs this summer.

Too many critics have shovels in hand ready to bury the horse racing industry. However, whether you were sitting in a race book here in Las Vegas or at a picnic table at Del Mar or Saratoga, you were able to experience the best this sport has to offer.

The numbers from Del Mar and Saratoga, unlike the funny stuff being spewed at the two presidential conventions, don't lie.

The daily average attendance at Del Mar was 17,623, down 1 percent from last year. Saratoga showed a 0.8 percent increase to 22,526. Those remain healthy numbers over an extended two-month meet.

Del Mar's daily average handle was $12.6 million, an 8.8 percent rise over $11.6 million last year. The daily all-sources handle at Saratoga averaged $14.7 million, up 9 percent from $13.4 million last summer.

In a down economy, those betting numbers are staggering beyond belief. Del Mar reported 15 pick-6 carry-overs, which clearly was a factor in its success. Saratoga seemingly had close to that many carry-overs.

In an era when every track is moaning about a horse shortage, both of these boutique tracks bucked the national trend. The average starters per race at Del Mar rose to 8.7 this year, up from 8.4 last year. At Saratoga, it rose to 8.4, up from 8.2 last year.

Now horses per race, by itself, is not enough to jump-start the betting. If that were the case, then Evangeline Downs would lead the country in wagering.

For the purist in me, it was great watching the jockeys and trainers at these two tracks competing for the rich purses every race. For example, sometimes you'll see a horse being given a race by the connections so as to win next time. You didn't see that at Del Mar and Saratoga.

Large purses demand that horsemen try to win every time. The goal still is to win purse money, and if the pot is sky high now, waiting to win the next race makes no sense.

Then, there was a proven belief if you could be right that one time you could win yourself out for the day, the week, maybe even the entire meet. For example, last Friday I saw a group of bettors at Sunset Station win the pick 6 for $308,928. To win big, you have to be in it.

Fortunately, I too ended the Del Mar season on a high note. My last bet of the meet Wednesday was winning the Twin Quinella at Station Casinos. Thus, I was able to surreptitiously put my ATM card back into my wallet for another day.

Richard Eng's horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.