Countering national industry trends, the recently concluded 2008 winter and spring Aqueduct seasons saw significant growth in attendance, handle, and purses.

From January 1 to April 27, 2008, average daily attendance rose 5.7 percent, from 2,610, to 2,760. With five more racing dates than in 2007, total attendance rose 12.8 percent, from 195,748 to 220,793.

Daily average on-track handle jumped 4.3 percent, from $602,659, to $628,295, with total handle growing 11.2 percent, from $45,199,421 to $50,263,568.

All sources handle also climbed, with the daily average up 3.7 percent, from $7,847,427 to $8,139,712. All sources handle totaled $651,176,929, a 10.6 percent increase over last year’s $588,557,037.

Purses were also up at Aqueduct, by 6.2 percent over last year.

“The Aqueduct meet was very strong for NYRA particularly in comparison with the rest of the industry,” NYRA president and CEO Charles Hayward said. “We had strong handle and purses increases while the industry in the first quarter of 2008 had a decline in total handle by 3.1%, and a decline in purses of 1.5%. We very much appreciate the participation of our horsemen and our customers.”

On April 30, racing shifted to Belmont Park, which opened with more than $2.5 million in improvements to the customer areas of the track as well as a new state-of-the-art TV/Simulcasting system in place. On track, NYRA heads into the heart of its racing year, with an array of graded stakes scheduled for the Belmont Park Spring/Summer meet, including 11 Grade 1 events topped by the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7.