Hindered by heat advisories throughout the country and cancellations due to temperatures/inclement weather, August saw a decline in nearly every economic metric from last year to this, and so too did the Year-to-Date figures, barring the average wagering per race day for the former and the average available purses per race day for the latter.Wagering totals on U.S. races, which includes worldwide commingled wagering, fell 6.43% from August 2025 to 2026–from $1,204,367,092 to $1,126,909,267 this season. Available purses took a 10.62% decline from $152,915,748 in 2025 to $136,682,128 this year and paid purses went down 8.86% ($145,094,654 to $132,242,256).August '25 saw 401 race days to 375 this season (-6.48%) as well as less races being contested–3,182 last year to 2,964 in '26 (-6.85%). Despite the average field size dropping from 7.19 to 7.08 this year (-1.47%), the average wagering per race day did increase by the slightest margin (0.06%) to $3,005,091 from $3,003,409 last August.On a year-to-date comparison, the declines were less dramatic, but wagering remained on a downward slide. Worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races last year totaled $7,941,810,200 and fell 4.8% to $7,560,314,083 for this year. Purses available and paid remained stable with only slight declines (-0.61% for the former and -0.16% for the latter).Race days (-2.34%), races (-2.79%), and starts (-5.72) all fell in year-to-date metrics as well as average field size (7.41 to 7.18, -3.01%) and average wagering per race day–$3,198,474 in '25 to $3,117,655 this year (-2.53%). The average available purses per race day increased slightly from $341,124 to $347,142 (1.76%).The post Racing Economic Indicators: Declines Across the Board in August, Available Purses Slightly Increase appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.