Lebanon, OH — For the eighth consecutive year handle rose substantially during the 2021 Miami Valley meet, which consisted of 86 live race days.

All-source average daily handle rose to $520,308, more than 30 percent higher than the daily average in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

To illustrate the consistent improvement Miami Valley has achieved, here are the daily average handles since opening eight years ago:

2014 – $142.545
2015 – $181,610
2016 – $262,729
2017 – $373,935
2018 – $382,524
2019 – $385,835
2020 – $398,967
2021 – $520,308

“I want to thank everyone — our racing department staff, the horsemen who compete here, and our patrons who support us in increasing numbers,” said first year Director of Racing Operations Ken Rambo. “We will take what we learned this season and work to build on it and make next year even better!”

“It has been great watching the steady growth at Miami Valley,” said veteran Race Secretary Gregg Keidel. “Along with our tremendous percentage handle jumps forward in our third and fourth seasons, 2021 has to go down as one of our best years yet. I attribute our success to our ability to offer one of the best purse structures anywhere, resulting in a tremendous horse supply provided by hundreds of loyal owners and trainers, a deep and talented drivers colony that assures some of the most competitive racing in the industry, and doing our due diligence to position MVG in the best possible place we can. With an ongoing study to determine the best days and times to race, as well as a little tinkering with our betting format, I see nothing but continuous significant growth at Miami Valley in 2022.”

Another indication of the strength of the Miami Valley program, and the confidence that owners and trainers have in it, is the quantity of claims that occur. The 2021 total of 342 successful claims for a total of $4,455,600 (an average of just over $13,000 each) was second only to 2019 in volume.

Live racing will not resume at Miami Valley until the first week of January 2022, but simulcast wagering on dozens of live feeds from race tracks across North American continues uninterrupted every day of the year.