How can handle numbers be so elusive in an industry as regulated as pari-mutuel wagering?...

Purses dropped 1.3% last year from '07; this year's decline will certainly be more dramatic....

The single most significant number relative to a racetrack's business is handle. Pure and simple. It not only fuels the second-most-important number--purses--but is clearly reflective of the acceptance of a track's racing product by the wagering public....