LEXINGTON, Ky. – Total handle on races at Keeneland Racecourse this meet is off 8.6 percent from last fall’s robust figures, but the declines have slowed over the last couple of live race dates after plummeting during the first full weekend in the face of calls to boycott the track because of its recent takeout increase. Total handle over the first eight live race dates of the 17-day meet this fall is $65.3 million, according to figures provided by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday, down from $71.5 million over the first eight days of last year’s 17-day fall meet, for a total decline of $6.18 million. The decline is a reversal of a trend in which handle has risen at Keeneland for four straight meets. Nearly 86 percent of the total handle fall-off occurred on the two opening weekend days, when handle on the Saturday card dropped $2.34 million, or 14.4 percent, despite two more betting interests than last year’s record-setting card and perfect racing weather. On the next day, a Sunday, with rain falling all day and three races moved off the turf, accounting for a decline of 13 betting interests over the Sunday card last year, handle nosedived 30.9 percent, or by $2.95 million. Handle figures at Keeneland are being closely watched in the racing community this fall because of the track’s decision prior to the meet to raise its takeout rates to the highest allowed by law, with the exception of the pick five. The decision, which means lower payouts to winning bettors – and higher revenue shares from betting to the track – has infuriated some members of the racing community, with the most vocal calling for boycotts of Keeneland. Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales, said Monday that the handle figures do not yet clearly demonstrate that the boycott and lower payouts are having a dramatic impact on handle, noting that of the eight days of the meet so far, four have posted lower handle numbers than the corresponding date last year, three have posted higher handle numbers, and the other was “essentially a wash,” in reference to an insignificant decline on the opening Friday, Oct. 6. On one of the days in which handle was up, Keeneland ran 10 races, rather than nine. “How do you make any single-value causal relationship with that data?” Elliston said. “There are a lot of variables out there, although I will say that there is some number, some part of that 8.6 [decline] that can be attributed” to the takeout increase. While the top-line daily figures for Keeneland on their own are erratic, wagering data collected by Chris Rossi, a racing consultant who was previously the project manager for TimeformUS and who did consulting work for the company briefly after it was acquired by Daily Racing Form, show that since Keeneland opened, overall industry handle figures, not including Keeneland, have risen 5.1 percent on 88 fewer overall races, suggesting that handle has migrated away from Keeneland to other tracks, especially on the track’s opening Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday card, Oct. 7, was a major racing day across the country, as tracks held their final Breeders’ Cup prep races. According to Rossi’s data, the four other major tracks running during the Keeneland meet – Belmont Park in New York, Gulfstream Park West in Florida, Laurel Park in Maryland, and Santa Anita Park in Southern California – all have seen their handle increase since Keeneland opened, with three of the four being up double-digits. What’s more, Keeneland arguably has had a more attractive betting product, as its average field-size figure of 9.65 was higher than any of the other tracks; in three of the cases, Keeneland’s average field-size figure was higher by more than one horse. Elliston said that the handle figure for the opening Saturday card should be viewed in context of the 2016 opening Saturday, when handle was a record $15,926,396, a figure that shattered the previous record of $14,135,204. “This was still the third-highest opening Saturday at the fall meet that we have ever had,” Elliston said. “It wasn’t like it was a clunker. I think it speaks volumes about what a great Saturday we had last year.” The single-day fall record was set during a meet when handle and attendance figures were up sharply across the board, with total handle up 11.7 percent, continuing a strong record at Kentucky tracks of eight straight meets to post handle increases. Average field size during the fall meet last year was 9.1 horses per race, up 7.1 percent compared with the figure of 8.5 horses per race during the fall meet last year, while this year, the number is up another half-horse per race. Among the types of outlets that are taking the Keeneland signal, Elliston said that the highest drop-off has come at out-of-state bricks-and-mortar outlets, exceeding the overall 8.6 percent decline. He also said that account-wagering handle on the Keeneland signal has declined less than the 8.6 percent overall drop, though that drop-off also is counter to positive account-wagering growth rates posted over the past several meets. When asked if Keeneland was satisfied with the handle figures so far, Elliston said that “no track is ever comfortable raising prices for their customers, especially ones that are such a large constituent of Keeneland’s mission.” However, he reiterated that Keeneland felt it was necessary in order to serve the overall racing community. “We are going to spend that money to reinvest in the sport,” Elliston said.