Derby Week Earnings Increase

• {Louisville, Kentucky}...Churchill Downs drew a record Derby crowd of 165,307 Saturday and the second-largest crowd for the Kentucky Oaks at 112,552 the day before. Churchill CEO Robert L. Evans says the handle on the Oaks Day race card from all sources totaled a record $39.9 million, up 7 percent from last year, and, on the Derby alone, it was up 19 percent from last year, to $133.1 million. All-sources handle for the 13 Derby Day races at Churchill totaled a record $187 million, up 13 percent from last year. According to its quarterly results released late Monday, Churchill had first-quarter revenue of $138.2 million, up 5 percent from the year-ago period. The first-quarter results didn't include the Kentucky Derby week.