Data from Standardbred Canada indicates that pari-mutuel wagering on Canadian harness racing increased by 1.97 per cent in 2016, with average per-race handle up by 6.25 per cent.

Canadian harness racing attracted more than $460 million in handle in 2015, which was an increase of 10 per cent from 2014. This past year (2016) saw Canadian harness racing handle $469,705,495, which works out to a 1.97 per cent overall increase from 2015.

The number of Canadian races with pari-mutuel wagering in 2016 was 12,383, which attracted an average per-race handle of $38,066. The average per-race handle in 2016 increased by 6.25 per cent in comparison to the 2015 average of $35,827.

Total purses in Canada were down in 2016. Combined purses surpassed $120 million in 2015, but were $111,796,128 in 2016.

Please note that the figures mentioned above are not official Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency data.

The United States Trotting Association announced earlier this week that total wagering on harness racing at U.S. racetracks in 2016 was $1,446,796,214, a 4.33 per cent decrease from the $1,512,300,328 bet in 2015.

The 2016 per-race average wagering was $37,325, a $464 (1.23 per cent) decrease from $37,789 a year ago, while total race days also declined 1.95 per cent to 3,675 compared with 3,748 in 2015.

Total purses were slightly down by $532,112 (0.13 per cent) with $423,067,643 awarded in 2016 compared to $423,599,755 in 2015.

Following are the comparative economic indicators for U.S. harness racing from 2015 and 2016.

Please note: Includes U.S. and Canadian common and separate pool wagers on races contested in the U.S. Data source: United Tote.

(With files from the USTA)