Betting on Thoroughbred racing up for month, quarter and year

Betting on Thoroughbred racing rose 1.18 percent in 2015, amounting to a $125 million increase to almost $10.7 billion in wagering in the U.S. for the year, according to Equibase.

Wagering for the fourth quarter rose 2.37 percent, to $2.37 billion, while wagering in December rose more than 8 percent as well, to $694 million. This is the first year-over-year increase in parimutuel wagering since 2012 and only the second time wagering rose annually since 2006, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

“In addition to an overall increase in U.S. parimutuel wagering in 2015, Thoroughbred racing also realized healthy increases in wagering per race (up 7.25 percent), purses per race (up 4.27 percent) and starters per race (up 1.8 percent),” said Alex Waldrop, NTRA president and CEO.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Betting on Thoroughbred racing up for month, quarter and year."