by Ayers Ratliff

Northfield, OH — Northfield Park has raced 22 programs so far in 2014 and has already handled in excess of $1,000,000 on 15 of them.

“There are several reasons our handle has risen this year,” explained Dave Bianconi, Northfield Park Executive Vice President of Racing and Simulcasting. “The additional purse money generated by the Hard Rock Rocksino, and the casino tax revenue distributed by the Ohio State Racing Commission, has enabled us to card more races with fuller fields and better quality horses. We also continue to invest in our simulcast network and television production technology.”

Thursday, January 2, generated this year’s highest handle to date, $1,305,994. That number helped bolster Northfield’s average 2014 handle to $1,044,306, a 20.8 percent increase over last year. “Our purses have already increased twice this year and things are only going to get better,” added Bianconi.

Brent Reitz, Northfield Park Vice President and General Manager, was quick to praise the backstretch community. “Our horsemen have put on a great show night after night despite working through the longest stretch of severe winter weather we have experienced in decades.”

Northfield Park will race 214 nights in 2014. The current live racing schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights with a 6 p.m. post time.