Saratoga Gaming and Raceway is the only bright spot in a generally gloomy statewide report on the declining amount of money bet this year at horse racing tracks and off-track betting parlors.
The gaming and harness racing facility on Crescent Avenue is the only track in the state to show a slight gain in overall betting comparing this year with 2007.
The all-source handle, or total betting, at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway for 2008 through October was $34,122,604, compared to $33,914,728 during the same period in 2007, according to the state Racing and Wagering Board.
“We are fortunate to be in a very strong gambling area,” said John Matarazzo, director of racing operations at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway.
“We are somewhat insulated [from declines seen at other facilities] due to our loyal customer base,” Matarazzo said.
He noted that the slight gain in the year-to-year numbers comes from betting on the simulcast horse racing at the facility and is not restricted to live harness racing, which actually saw a 5 percent drop in handle over the year.
Other than Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, the amount bet at thoroughbred tracks and seven harness racing tracks across the state this year declined compared to betting in 2007. Through October, the total handle at New York tracks was $526,992,510, a drop of more than $20 million from the same period in 2007.
The same was the case for off-track betting, including Capital OTB, which saw betting drop from $172,167,128 through October of 2007 to $163,736,250 during the same time period this year, according to numbers released Friday by the state Racing and Wagering Board.
The all-sources handle (both simulcast and on-track) for the three New York Racing Association thoroughbred tracks — Saratoga, Aqueduct and Belmont — dropped by four percent comparing this year with last year, the board said.
John Lee, a NYRA spokesman, said Saratoga Race Course’s 7.2 percent drop in on-track handle was caused, in part at least, by more than two weeks of extremely wet weather during the 36-day summer horse racing meet.
This summer’s high gas prices and “economic jitters” were also responsible for lower betting numbers both on and off the track at Saratoga this summer, he said.
Lee said September’s economic meltdown on Wall Street and throughout the nation had a negative impact on the fall thoroughbred meet at Belmont Park on Long Island, where the handle was down about 10 percent from 2007 numbers.
“There is no doubt that the economy is a major factor in this,” said state racing board chairman John Sabini in an Associated Press story.
“I don’t think New York is necessarily at fault,” Sabini said. “This is a nationwide problem.”
Jamie Hartman, general manager of Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, said Friday that he is pleased with the results this year so far but is preparing for a downturn.
“We are bracing for a down tick,” Hartman said. “We feel the economy is not going to improve dramatically [in 2009].”
Saratoga Gaming and Raceway employs 150 people. “We certainly haven’t announced any layoffs and don’t intend to,” Hartman said.
However, he said he and his management team are “watching our operating expenses very closely.
“We are not taking business for granted,” Hartman said. He said he and his parent company, Delaware North Companies, believe in marketing their facilities during difficult economic times to maintain healthy business levels.
Between 40,000 and 50,000 people visit Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in a given week, Hartman said. Many of the visitors play the nearly 2,000 video lottery terminals at the facility.
Categories: Schenectady County
