Thanks in part to the two-day Breeders’ Cup Championships, account wagering handle in Virginia for October was solid, and turned out to be the fourth best month of 2015. All three partner providers — TVG, Twin Spires and XPressBet — saw handle improve dramatically from September, which traditionally is one of the slowest months of the year.
TVG, which has been the biggest handle generator in the state since EZ Horseplay went out of business in early April, handled $2,976,157 last month, up from $2,385,567 in September. Twin Spires, which took in $2,397,731 in bets, saw business jump from $1,923,633 the month prior while XPressBet handled $1,041,255 compared with $865,359 in September. Combined, the three took in $6,415,144 in wagers versus $5,174,860 the previous month.
The Breeders’ Cup Championships were held at Keeneland October 30 & 31
For the year, TVG is up 27.34%, with $28,564,228 in betting handle. Twin Spires is next with a 25.77% increase from $22,774.555 in wagers, and XPressbet is third, up 10.22%, with a $10,101,693 handle. The entire 2015 total is off 11.93% from last year — $69,827,328 versus $79,283,272 from 2014 — due to the absence of EZ Horseplay since early spring, which had been the top handle producer of the four.
The three most prolific months this year have been May (when the Derby & Preakness took place), August (Saratoga & Del Mar meets, plus American Pharoah ran twice) and June (when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes).