Nearly 90,000 at Breeders’ Cup

Another fantastic weather weekend during the third Breeders’ Cup in five years at Santa Anita Park race track was another terrific showcase for some of the many virtues of Arcadia. The main Classic race, won in an upset by Fort Larned, was televised live on NBC and featured many stunning aerial shots of the iconic track against the picturesque backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains. The many hours of coverage of the rest of the day’s races were broadcast on the NBC Sports network. Local NBC news affiliate KNBC channel 4 featured many video reports leading up to the races, including a segment about the positive impact on local Arcadia businesses.

More than 55,000 attended the main event Saturday, with horses and attendees coming from Japan, Argentina, England, Ireland, France and all over North America. About two-thirds of those people and some others attended the first day on Friday to reach a combined total of nearly 90,000 customers going through the turnstiles over the two-day 29th Breeders’ Cup World Championships. That was slightly down from the 2009 total when Zenyatta made her historic come-from-behind victory, but ahead of the 2008 attendance. Races at Churchhill Downs typically draw as many as 25,000 more attendees — 114,000 in 2010 — due to the larger venue with more luxury suites. But former Zenyatta jockey Mike Smith set another historic record this weekend with two wins at Breeders’ Cup and nearly a third when he rode Mucho Macho Man to a surprise close second in the Classic. Smith is now two ahead of the previous record with 17  Breeders’c Cup victories.

Total two-day common-pool handle for the Friday and Saturday race cards was $144,272,332, Breeders’ Cup announced today. Wagering on Saturday’s 12-race Breeders’ Cup card was $96,685,567, a slight decline from the 2011 handle of $105,472,442 when the event was held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky for the second consecutive year. The on-track handle for the two days at Santa Anita was $20,680,143, a slight increase over the $19,208,111 total for the 2009 event at Santa Anita.

Breeders’ Cup Two-Day Attendance and Handle (common-pool) history:

2012, Santa Anita Park — 89,742; $144,272,332 2011, Churchill Downs — 105,820; $161,512,867 2010, Churchill Downs — 114,353; $173,857,697 2009, Santa Anita Park — 96,496; $153,271,176 2008, Santa Anita Park — 86,588; $155,740,328

— By Scott Hettrick