Takes in over $6.8 Million in Wagers on 2005 Triple Crown Race Days;
Belmont Stakes Day Sees Highest Ever Non-Triple Crown Wagering Day
Hauppauge, NY -Suffolk Off-Track Betting Corporation (OTB) set a Triple Crown wagering record on Saturday, having booked over $6.8 million in wagers on Kentucky Derby Day, Preakness Day and Belmont Stakes Day.
Record wagering on this year’s Kentucky Derby ($2.6 million) and Preakness Stakes ($2.06 million) pushed the three-race day handle more than a quarter of a million dollars over the previous Triple Crown handle record.
Customers of Suffolk OTB’s 15 locations and telephone wagering system also set a record for a non-Triple Crown Belmont Stakes Day on June 11, with over $2.1 million in bets. It was the sixth largest wagering day in the 30-year history of the public benefit corporation, and third busiest Belmont Stakes Day, eclipsed only in 2004 and 2003, when Smarty Jones and Funny Cide threatened to capture the elusive Triple Crown for the first time in over a quarter century.
”Interest in horse racing is alive and well in Suffolk County,” said President/CEO of Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation Anthony Apollaro. “Our enhanced and renovated gaming locations were busier than ever this year, with customers enjoying the nation’s best racing action on movie-sized screens, flat panel TVs, individual wagering carrels, and fine dining and cocktails at our restaurant in the Racing Forum in Hauppauge.”
Founded in 1975, Suffolk Regional OTB is a public benefit corporation that operates branch locations across the county. Since Suffolk OTB was created, Suffolk County has received more than $187.5 million from OTB revenues.
”Unfortunately, because of sharp increases in fees mandated by the State of New York and the State's dysfunctional distribution of revenue from OTBs, local taxpayers will reap even less money from this Derby Day than they have in the past, despite our one day record," said Mr. Apollaro.
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