- Total Wagering on Kentucky Derby Race Increases 7.8%
- Kentucky Derby DreamBet Sweepstakes Winner Cashes $900,000 Winning Ticket
LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The crowd of 155,804 braved heavy early morning rain and sporadic showers throughout the day to see WinStar Farm LLC's Super Saver gallop to a historic victory in the 136th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. This year's crowd exceeded last year's crowd of 153,563, despite the early inclement weather. Trainer Todd Pletcher found the Derby win that had eluded him with his 24 prior Derby entrants and Calvin Borel repeated his 2009 Kentucky Derby win with a 2 ½ length margin over the full field of 20, his third victory in the last four Kentucky Derbys.
Combined attendance for the 2010 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks was 271,850, exceeding the 258,430 combined attendance of both events from last year. The Kentucky Derby attendance figure marks the tenth time that Kentucky Derby Day attendance has exceeded 150,000 fans.
Total wagering from all sources on the Kentucky Derby race, which includes on-track and off-track wagers, was $112.7 million, a 7.8 percent increase from the $104.6 million all-sources total in 2009. Total wagering from all sources on the 13-race Kentucky Derby Day card at Churchill Downs was $162.7 million, an increase of 4.3 percent from the $156.0 million wagered a year earlier. Handle amounts for 2010 are preliminary and do not include separate pool wagering in international markets such as Hong Kong, which simulcast the Kentucky Derby for the first time. These totals are especially notable given equipment failures at AmTote's, Oregon hub, which resulted in TwinSpires.com, Arlington Park, Fair Grounds and many other wagering outlets experiencing lost wagers and customer service issues.
"The Churchill Downs team congratulates all those involved with Super Saver on his historic victory in this year's 136th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands," said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery. "After setting attendance and wagering records on Oaks Day, we can't say enough about Kentucky Derby fans who didn't let the rain dampen their enthusiasm. The Louisville community and the entire nation of Derby fans again lent tremendous support for this great event. We were very pleased with the level of wagering on the Oaks and Derby race cards and see the overwhelmingly positive responses of our customers, both on- and off-track, as validation of our efforts to present our product in new and innovative ways that can be embraced by core and casual fans alike. We are sorry customers throughout the country experienced difficulty placing wagers on the Kentucky Derby and the undercard and we promise to get a full and complete accounting from AmTote of the failures today."
Churchill Downs' partnership with CNBC through its 'Call the Close' $100,000 Derby DreamBet Sweepstakes gave winner Glen Fullerton the chance to place a $100,000 win bet on the Kentucky Derby. Glen's wager on Super Saver earned him a life-changing payout of $900,000, while NBC's coverage of his reaction as Super Saver brought home the roses made for a truly great television moment.
Race fans generated a Pick 6 carryover pool of $947,640 and a Super Hi-5 carryover pool of $147,065. Churchill Downs will resume its 2010 Spring Meet on Thursday, May 6, with post time at 12:45 p.m. EDT.
Churchill Downs returned $133.1 million to bettors on the Kentucky Derby Day race card, which amounts to approximately 82 percent of total wagering.
Super Saver's win in Kentucky Derby 136 gave WinStar Farm its first Kentucky Derby victory. Super Saver returned $18.00 on a $2 wager and completed the 1 ¼-mile distance in 2:04.45 over a sloppy track.
Churchill Downs, the world's most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq:CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 7, 2011. The track's 2010 Spring Meet is underway and continues through July 4. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders' Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on November 5 and 6, 2010. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.
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