Total handle on the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville was down 3.7 percent when compared to the total amount bet on the 2019 edition of the race, the last time the race was held on the first Saturday in May, according to charts of the races. Total handle on Saturday’s Derby race, which was held under coronavirus restrictions that limited attendance to roughly one-third of capacity, was $153.66 million, compared to the record $159.61 million bet on the race in 2019, according to the charts. Both races had 19 horses. Comparisons between this year’s edition and the race held two years ago are apt because last year’s Derby was held Sept. 5, the first time in 74 years that the race was not held on the first Saturday in May. Unmoored from its traditional spot on the calendar, and run at a track without spectators during a time of massive economic disruption brought on by the pandemic, the Derby last year generated handle roughly half of its typical size, as did the other rescheduled races in the Triple Crown. Total handle on the 14-race card at Churchill on Saturday was down 5.3 percent, according to charts, dropping from the record $244.1 million bet on the Derby card in 2019 to $231.1 million this year. There was a total of 148 runners on the card this year, compared to 154 runners on the card in 2019. (Daily Racing Form includes all bets that pay off on a race on the Derby card in its handle totals, but does not include the myriad wagers made in the parimutuel future bets hosted by Churchill Downs on the Oaks and Derby.) :: Join DRF Bets and get ready to watch and wager on the Preakness with a $250 first deposit bonus  Handle on the Derby on Saturday was bolstered by the roughly $2.4 million in win bets reportedly made by horse owner Jim McIngvale on the favorite, Essential Quality, as a hedge on a promotion at his furniture stores. The bet drove down the odds on Essential Quality while increasing the odds on other horses in the race, allowing other bettors to look for inefficiencies. The total straight pool was up this year by 5.7 percent when compared to the 2019 Derby. All other in-race betting pools, however, were down by double digits when compared to the 2019 edition. The exacta pool was down 14.5 percent; the trifecta pool was down 12.1 percent; and the superfecta pool was down 15.6 percent, according to charts. While the pick three, four, and five pools were also down double digits, the pick six jackpot pool was up 236 percent when compared to a traditional pick six for the 2019 race, mitigating the declines in the other multi-race pools. For the full card, betting totals were uniformly down on the races prior to the Derby, with the exception of the first two races on the card, reflecting, in large part, the lack of ontrack fans. Churchill announced late in the day that attendance was 51,838, nearly 100,000 fewer attendees than the 150,729 at the 2019 race. That year, bettors at the track poured $21.3 million into the pools. Churchill did not respond to requests to provide on-track handle numbers for the Derby and Oaks cards. :: Get Daily Racing Form past performances, featuring exclusive Beyer Speed Figures - the gold standard in horse racing  Two races on the undercard presented bettors with less-than-attractive options. In the Derby City Distaff, run as the seventh race on the card, Gamine won at 1-5 odds in a six-horse field, and betting on the race was down 36.8 percent compared to the Distaff Turf Mile in the same spot in 2019, with a competitive field of 11. The sixth race on Saturday, the Distaff Turf Mile, also had only six horses, and total handle on the race was down 17.3 percent compared to the race in the same slot in 2019. Those two races likely had an impact on multi-race bets that included the races. The Derby results were slightly better than the handle results posted Friday for the Kentucky Oaks. Total wagering on the Kentucky Oaks was down 9.5 percent when compared to the 2019 edition of the race, while total handle on the 13-race card was down 9.8 percent. Attendance on Friday was announced at 41,472, compared to attendance of 105,718 for the 2019 Oaks card.