this surprised me a little, was expecting a small decrease in handle. There were a lot of small fields on the undercard
Total betting on the card was $99.85 million, according to charts, a 6.6 percent jump over last year’s handle and a 1.93 gain over the record handle set in 2017. This year’s card had 126 runners, while last year’s card had only 93 due to a significant number of scratches because of wet conditions. The 2017 card had 125 runners.
Two weeks ago, handle records were set on the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, and both of the two races’ undercards. In addition, Pimlico set a record for handle for its Friday card, which features a number of stakes races, including the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
https://www.drf.com/news/handle-2019...w-record?type=