[Riot]

Derby Wagering, Attendance Up Despite Weather
By Blood-Horse Staff

Wagering on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) rose 7.8%, Churchill Downs reported, and attendance increased by 1.5% even with heavy rain prior to the start of the May 1 program along with scattered thunderstorms and showers during the day.

All-sources handle improved to $112.7 million on the first jewel of the Triple Crown compared with $104.6 million last year, the track reported. All-sources wagering also was up by 4.3% for the full Kentucky Derby card, with $162.7 million wagered on the 13-race card compared with $156 million in 2009.

The figures were especially encouraging given the equipment failure at AmTote’s Oregon hub, which led to lost wagers and customer service problems for TwinSpires.com, XpressBet, Arlington Park, Fair Grounds and other wagering outlets.

On-track attendance was reported to be 155,804, an increase over 153,563 last year. Combined attendance for the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) and Derby rose from 258,430 to 271,850.

“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, said Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs racetrack president. "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.”