The bordering states of Indiana and Ohio sport a total of nine racing tracks between them—two in the Hoosier State and seven in the Buckeye State. While the purse and handle figures appear to be strong, each state faces its own challenges, with this article focusing on the changes in both arenas from 2014 through 2022/2023.
For those unfamiliar with the history of horse racing in Indiana, here is a brief synopsis. Although Standardbred racing has long been strong in the Hoosier State—starting in the early 1880s at the county fairs, it wasn’t until 1994 that pari-mutuel wagering was approved by the state legislature, beginning at Hoosier Park that opened in Anderson in 1994 for harness racing and following with Horseshoe Indianapolis (formerly Indiana Downs, and Indiana Grand), which opened in Shelbyville in 2002, which caters strictly to the runners and Quarter Horses.
There are 92 county fairs in Indiana, with ten that conduct harness racing, along with the state fair at Indianapolis, long a home for the Grand Circuit events.
The Indiana legislature approved slot machine wagering in 2007 at both Hoosier Park and Horseshoe Indianapolis, providing significant increases to the Standardbred and Thoroughbred purse pools. Both tracks made a quick jump in the racino business—with Hoosier becoming a full-fledged racino in 2008 and Horseshoe Indianapolis doing so one year later in 2009. The Indiana legislature then legalized sports betting in 2019, allowing for gambling on professional and collegiate sports, and for table games at the two horse tracks.
Indiana currently has 10 casinos, nine split between Lake Michigan and the Ohio River, and one land-based, the French Lick Casino located in south central Indiana, and the Four Winds South Wind Casino, a Potawatomi Indian site located on the border of Indiana and Michigan.
In 2014, the breeds received $21,797,301.91 in combined slot revenue allocation ($11.2 million to harness & $9.3 million to the runners), and by 2023, those figures had jumped to $29,891,201.07 in combined gaming revenue allocation ($14.6 million to harness & $13.6 million to the runners), according to the Indiana Horse Racing Commission’s (IHRC) Gaming Revenue Report for 2022-2023.
According to the IHRC’s 2022 Annual Report, a total live handle of $2,520,932 was wagered on Standardbred races that year at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, with slightly less bet ($2,156,651) on the Thoroughbreds at Horseshoe Indianapolis. It must be noted that the Standardbreds at Harrah’s Hoosier Park raced 160 programs, while the Thoroughbreds at Horseshoe Indianapolis raced 113 programs.
Conversely, the simulcast export handle saw $103,149,217 wagered on the harness, while $206,784,686 was bet on the runners, indicating the strength of the Thoroughbred product over that of the harness in the Hoosier State. These figures include the $535,891 that was wagered at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Horseshoe Indianapolis’ Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse simulcast signal, while the gamblers at Horseshoe Indianapolis bet $376,375 on Harrah’s Hoosier Park Standardbred simulcast signal. This indicates there is a bigger wagering crossover from harness gamblers to the runners than vice versa.
When examining the total in-state handle in Indiana from 2014 through 2022, the numbers show that fans wagered $46 million in 2022, a 49.4% drop from the $91 million they wagered in 2014. When broken down by racetrack, we find that both venues suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 (Indiana Grand – $19 million & Hoosier Park – $16 million).
However, Horseshoe Indianapolis rebounded to see wagering dollars increase to $29 million in 2021 and then dip slightly in 2022 to $26 million, while Hoosier Park jumped to $23 million in 2021, they decreased to $20 million in 2022. Both tracks showed significantly higher figures in 2014—Hoosier Park at $56 million in the total monies wagered, and Horseshoe Indianapolis at $34 million. Interestingly, 21 years ago—in 2003—Hoosier Park’s total in-state handle was $130 million, while Horseshoe Indianapolis (then Indiana Downs) was at $37 million.
Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) fees dropped only slightly in Indiana from 2020 to 2022, with Standardbred owners and trainers garnering 46%–$922,085 (2020); $922,049 (2021); and $900,039 (2022). The Thoroughbreds also receive a total of 46%, with owners and trainers receiving 36.8%–$737,668 (2020); $737,639 (2021); and $720,031 (2022) and owners and breeders receiving 9.2%– $184,417 (2020); $184,410 (2021); and $180,008 (2022).
In 2016, Indiana had one of its strongest seasons, coming in first place in total purse money paid out, when compared with neighboring Ohio and Illinois. That year Hoosier Park paid out slightly more than $28 million during 160 race programs, compared with Northfield Park ($25.1 million & 221 programs), Scioto Downs ($15.9 million & 90 programs), Miami Valley ($11 million & 90 programs), and Hawthorne ($7.9 million & 103 programs).
Similar to Ohio, the number of stallions standing in Indiana decreased from a high of 147 in 2012, to 101 in 2022, while the number of mares bred increased from 2,634 bred in 2012, resulting in 1,717 foals to 3,768 mares bred in 2022, resulting in 2,383 foals born in 2022.
Ohio stallion figures have dropped from a high of 168 in 2014 to 71 in 2022, and currently there are 107 registered studs as recorded by the Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC). And despite the lower purses that hovered over the Buckeye State for so many years, Ohio did have an all-time high number of 521 stallions standing in the state in 1984.
Wagering on horse racing began in 1933 in Ohio, with no other gambling allowed in the Buckeye State until the Lottery went into effect in 1973. Ohio horsemen struggled for years with consistently dwindling purses until 2013, when a portion of the casino tax was legislatively approved to be paid to both the Standardbred and Thoroughbred purses. As a result, the Buckeye State has seen a boom and boost in both purses and involvement in the sport in the past ten years.
However, the numbers, while healthy, do give a false indication of where the gambling dollars are actually coming from. For instance, the total handle in 2022 (the last year these figures are available) was $113,392,804, paling in comparison to the 2013 total numbers of $190,487,288, and a far cry from the highs of the late 1990s, when the handle soared to an all-time high of $628,783,858 in 1998.
The last time Ohio wagering figures were similar to 2022 figures was in the mid-1950s, when the handle was $117,520,808 (1955), $105,278,756 (1954), and $107,442,460 (1953). Prior to those years, the handle was $83 million or lower.
By further examining the Ohio handle figures from 2014-2022, Northfield Park experienced the least drop in handle, from $42,200,475 in 2014 to $33,138,728 in 2022, a change of -21.5%. Scioto Downs saw a huge decrease during this same time frame, from $30,592,267 in handle in 2014 to $16,180,040 in 2022, a -47.2% drop. Likewise, Miami Valley Raceway’s handle figures saw a similar drop (-45.7%), from a high of $23,451,707 in 2014 to $12,738,895 in 2022. Dayton Raceway’s handle dropped from $11,291,136 in 2014 to $6,615,773 in 2022, a -41% decrease.
Curiously, Mahoning Valley Thoroughbreds, near Youngstown, experienced a slight increase during this same block of time, with their on-track handle climbing from $6,267,798 in 2014 to $8,712,136 in 2022, a 40.3% increase. Belterra, once known as River Downs, just outside of Cincinnati, saw their handle go from $22,671,901 in 2014 to $16,909,900 in 2022, a -25.2% decrease, while Jack Thistledown in Cleveland saw a -50.9% decrease in handle from 2014 ($30,498,227) to 2022 ($14,935,453).
So, what does this data prove to readers? That ultimately, Indiana remains somewhat steady because it provides gamblers with one mile oval (Horseshoe Indianapolis) and one seven-eighths mile oval (Hoosier). Conversely, Ohio offers three five-eighths mile ovals for harness (Scioto, Miami Valley, Dayton), and one half-mile (Northfield).
Northfield Park is the anomaly in this equation. Opened in August of 1957, “The Home of the Flying Turns” is one of the few half-mile ovals that continuously holds its own, thanks to the efforts of Dave Bianconi, who upped the ante by providing a comfortable setting for its patrons, offering a strong, high-definition simulcast signal, one of the largest simulcast networks in harness racing, and four-day a week race programs featuring nine-horse fields. While favorites continue to win at an average of 42%, the banked turns allow for a more aggressive outside flow than at many other half-milers.
Studies have shown that five-eighths mile ovals are the least bet circumference, and that gamblers prefer the mile or near-mile raceways, that offer larger fields and thus more wagering opportunities. As well, offering 14-15 live races per card, five days a week or more, is overkill for the gambler. Less races, of better quality, with larger fields, are what gamblers are looking for.
by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink