NYRA sets all-sources handle record for Woodward Day
by Pat McKenna
A strong card featuring four graded stakes on the final Saturday of the 2018 meet - highlighted by Yoshida's victory against a full field of 14 in the 65th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward - generated an all-sources handle record of $31,030,034, easily eclipsing the previous Woodward Day record set in 2017 by 11.3 percent.
On-track handle was $5,895,252, an increase of eight percent over 2017.
The record-setting day came a week after the New York Racing Association established a new record for all-sources handle on Travers Day with $52,086,597, marking the first time all-sources wagering on Travers Day topped $50 million.
Woodward Day also featured Raging Bull's impressive win in the 111th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Saranac, part of an effort that saw Chad Brown set a new Saratoga single-meet wins records for a trainer, with the conditioner eclipsing the previous mark of 40. Sippican Harbor, at odds of 16-1, won the Grade 1, $350,000 Spinaway and earned an all-fees paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Following Yoshida's win in his dirt debut, Lady Montdore ended the day with a victory in the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls.
The 2018 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course concludes Labor Day, Monday, September 3 with an 11-race card highlighted by the Grade 1, $350,000 Hopeful for 2-year-olds and the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap on the turf.
For more information about Saratoga Race Course, visit NYRA.com.
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