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According to Equibase statistics, handle – the amount of dollars wagered in the United States on thoroughbred races – rose in 2015 over 2014 by 1.2 percent. While that might not sound like much, consider that counters a period of steady annual decline, from a high of $15.9 billion in 2003 to a low of $11.1 billion in 2014. From 2006 through '14, handle declined seven out of eight years.