{"id":66471,"date":"2025-07-29T18:26:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T22:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=66471"},"modified":"2025-07-29T18:26:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T22:26:27","slug":"genesee-county-batavia-downs-opener-sees-29-increase-in-handle-over-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/29\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-opener-sees-29-increase-in-handle-over-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs opener sees 29% increase in handle over 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

File photo-July 26, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batavia, NY — When Batavia Downs kicked off its 2025 summer\/fall session of live racing on Saturday (July 26), there was a notable increase in live attendance and the amount of money that bettors placed on races held at Batavia, both remotely and in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The track reported a 29% overall increase in handle versus opening day of 2024, and that included a 3% increase from those wagering on-site. That on-site crowd filled the clubhouse and track apron and included many groups, families with children, older fans and stalwart racing aficionados who came out to bet and watch the New York Sire Stake action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Provided photo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolle Fortes is the Director of Live Racing at Batavia Downs and she spent the evening trackside to welcome all the customers who attended and was very encouraged by the energy and excitement felt throughout the property that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the increase in handle and the great on-track attendance is a result of the renewed focus that\u2019s been put on live racing product. In addition to the improvements we\u2019ve invested in, we\u2019ve also made a concentrated effort to increase exposure and generate excitement for this year\u2019s meet. We had a great race card, including the New York Sire Stake 3-year-old filly pacers, even though we had to dodge a few raindrops along the way. I\u2019m very happy with how the opener went and hope to continue the momentum throughout the season,\u201d said Fortes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Provided photo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortes also noted that the live crowd was engaged by staff throughout the facility to not only provide a memorable experience that night, but to also give everyone who attended a reason to return for more live action as a result of that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President and CEO of Western Regional Off Track Betting, Byron Brown, was also on hand and liked the reception the return of live racing received Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was great to see such a large crowd on opening night of the 2025 live racing season as our goal is to attract new fans to come out and enjoy a night of racing at our historic oval. I would like to thank Nicolle and her staff for making it such a memorable night. I also want to thank all our loyal fans and I hope to see them throughout the rest of the racing season,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racing resumes at Batavia Downs on Wednesday (July 30) and the New York Sire Stakes return one day later, on Thursday (July 31) when $114,900 will be made available for the 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers. Post time for both nights are at 6 p.m. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo-July 26, 2025 By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY — When Batavia Downs kicked off its 2025 summer\/fall session of live racing on Saturday (July 26), there was a notable increase in live attendance and the amount of money that bettors placed on races held at Batavia, \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[376],"class_list":["post-66471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesee-county","tag-batavia-downs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-hi7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59792,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/12\/12\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-bucks-national-trend-with-marked-handle-increase\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":0},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs bucks national trend with marked handle increase","author":"aka","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"(File Photo) By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY --- The 2024 racing season wrapped up at Batavia Downs last Saturday (Dec. 7) night and that also closed the track\u2019s books for the year. After all the paperwork was finalized, the bottom line showed that the business of harness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/294728761_5561952967190942_4993887756819139858_n.webp?fit=1024%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/294728761_5561952967190942_4993887756819139858_n.webp?fit=1024%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/294728761_5561952967190942_4993887756819139858_n.webp?fit=1024%2C534&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/294728761_5561952967190942_4993887756819139858_n.webp?fit=1024%2C534&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49114,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/20\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-realized-a-75-handle-increase-in-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":1},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs realized a 75% handle increase in 2023","author":"aka","date":"December 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs (Photo courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery) Batavia, NY --- With the books now finalized after the last live card of racing took place on Saturday (Dec. 9), Batavia Downs saw a major growth in handle that started last January during their first winter meet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C1103&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C1103&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C1103&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C1103&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Snow-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C1103&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47308,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/28\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-boasting-record-handle-at-current-meet\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs boasting record handle at current meet","author":"aka","date":"September 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs (Photo provided by Batavia Downs) Batavia, NY \u2014\u00a0As the 2023 live racing season at Batavia Downs reached the halfway mark, the numbers show that bettors came out in full force and that may lead to the track's most profitable year since Western Regional Off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/BD-night-II.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/BD-night-II.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/BD-night-II.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/BD-night-II.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/BD-night-II.jpg?fit=1200%2C663&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38650,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/12\/28\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-fared-well-among-the-competition-in-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs fared well among the competition in 2022","author":"aka","date":"December 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"File photo-Opening Day 2022 By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs The 2022 racing season came to a close at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Dec. 17) and although some declines in handle were realized, the track performed better than many national trends. The track recorded\u00a0its fourth\u00a0highest total on-track handle\u00a0for Batavia live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220720_183420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220720_183420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220720_183420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220720_183420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/20220720_183420-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49798,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/01\/22\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-record-handle-surges-past-one-half-million-on-monday\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":4},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs record handle surges past one-half million on Monday","author":"aka","date":"January 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs (Photo courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery) Batavia, NY \u2014 The track was fast for the Monday afternoon (Jan. 22) card at Batavia Downs, and so was the pace at which money flowed through the windows from all outlets as the track handled $509,180, setting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Stonebridge-Hypnos-1.jpg?fit=1022%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Stonebridge-Hypnos-1.jpg?fit=1022%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Stonebridge-Hypnos-1.jpg?fit=1022%2C681&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Stonebridge-Hypnos-1.jpg?fit=1022%2C681&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60464,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-starts-winter-racing-session-monday\/","url_meta":{"origin":66471,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs starts winter racing session Monday","author":"aka","date":"January 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs (Photo courtesy of Wendy J. 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