Total handle on a Kentucky Derby run four months after the first Saturday of May dropped just more than 50 percent this year, underlining the importance of the race’s longtime spot on the calendar. Total handle on the 15-horse Derby was $79.4 million, down 52 percent from the record $165.5 million bet last year, when the race had 19 runners, according to Churchill Downs. This year’s Derby was held on the first Saturday of September after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the race from its traditional date, where it is usually celebrated as an American rite of spring and draws television ratings on par with some of the country’s most-watched sporting events. Handle totals for nearly all of the betting pools for the race were down significantly. The only exceptions were the multi-leg bets leading into the Derby, which were down by lesser degrees or even up compared to last year, particularly with the pick six, which this year had a large jackpot carryover. Multi-leg bets are played much more heavily by everyday horseplayers than the general public. Still, the total amount bet on the 14-race card, $128.3 million, was better than any other race day this year, illustrating the Derby’s unique position in the sport. The full-card amount, however, was down 48.9 percent compared to the record amount bet on the card last year, and it was the lowest full-card handle total since 2002. :: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more. This year’s Derby was run without any spectators and as the second leg of the Triple Crown. While the race is heavily promoted in a normal year, it did not receive much promotion until the week prior to the date, in part due to reluctance by Churchill officials to celebrate the race in a city that has been one of the centers of the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Several other factors influenced handle. Most states still recommend that people do not gather indoors or in large groups, limiting what are often lavish Derby parties, and the Derby was being held on Labor Day weekend, a travel holiday for many. In Kentucky, the weather on Derby Day was the best in months, giving people ample alternatives to a day spent indoors watching a horse race dislodged from its traditional pegs. In addition, no spectators other than owners were allowed on-site this year, costing the card tens of millions of dollars. Last year, attendance on a dreary Derby Day was 150,729, and the crowd bet $21.3 million ontrack. In 2018, when weather was better, attendance was 157,813, and ontrack wagering was $23.0 million. Even for the horseplayers who tackled the card, there were deficiencies. Many of the stakes races had much smaller fields than last year, and only one favorite on the entire card won, sapping players’ bankrolls. The card also was rearranged this year, given that Churchill did not have to be concerned about traffic flow out of the facility, with the Derby held as the last of 14 races, rather than the 12th. As a result, the stakes races on the card this year were run as races 8-14, rather than 6-12. Handle for the June 20 Belmont Stakes – which was run at 1 1/8 miles as the first leg of the Triple Crown rather than its traditional 1 1/2-mile distance as the third leg of the Triple Crown – was $34.1 million, well below a typical year. Total handle on the entire Belmont Stakes card, which also was held without spectators, was $67.75 million. The card featured six stakes races. Handle comparisons of races run this Saturday to the races in the same spots last year showed that the differences between the per-race handle totals grew wider as the card proceeded, indicating that the lack of general interest in the Derby this year had a costly impact on wagering. Typically, bets from the general public do not begin impacting the pools to any significant degree until later in the Derby card. Full-card handle for the Derby card had set a record three years in a row prior to 2020, jumping from $192.6 million in 2016 to $250.9 million last year, which remains the record for any card held in North America. The third leg of this year’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, is scheduled for Oct. 3. No spectators will be allowed in. Without a Triple Crown on the line, the race and the 11 supporting stakes on the 12-race card will likely draw a long glance from bettors for its implications on the Breeders’ Cup five weeks later. But expecting much interest from outside the racing community seems a longshot at this point.