April jump can’t hide US wagering decline

Wagering on American racing experienced an upturn in April, but still remains on track to decline in 2026, which would be the seventh time in the past eight years it has gone down annually.

An increase in race days in led to bumps in wagering compared to April 2025, with 2,170 races (up 2.99 per cent) across 259 race days (up 2.78 per cent) which pushed wagering totals to US$898,254,315, up 2.23 per cent.

Average wagering per race day fell to US$3,468,163 (-0.53 per cent) while field size also fell to 7.30 (down 5.38%) and starts dropped to 15,837 (down 2.55%).

After a tough start to the year, wagering on US races year in 2026 sits at US$3,225,170,563, which is 4.69 per cent down on the same time last year.

Meanwhile prize money continues to rise to US$337,882,857, up 1.26 per cent for the year, while April purses grew 9.14 per cent to US$95,634,866 due to the higher number of race days.