This year’s Belmont Stakes drew the second-highest race day total in online betting, according to Woodland Hills-based Youbet.com Inc. The handle, or total wagered online, on June 10 hit $2.1 million, an 18 percent improvement over last year.

The record remains the $5.6 million bet on the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

No doubt the injury to Derby winner Barbaro during the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, put a damper on the wagering for the final race of the series, the Belmont Stakes.

Youbet.com’s United Tote subsidiary manages the betting done at terminals at racetracks. The company handled $81.3 million in terminal wagers for the Belmont, the second-highest amount for a race. (This year’s Kentucky Derby holds the honors for the largest race-day total, too, at $175 million.)

During the week leading up to the Belmont Stakes, Youbet.com signed up about 1,100 new online customers half coming from the company’s “fantasy” site, Youbet.net.

Taking a page from fantasy sports leagues, Youbet.com launched a play-for-points site this year to help educate online users about horse racing. The company is trying to appeal to the young audience that religiously follows its fantasy sports teams by demystifying horse racing.

“We’re effectively marketing the Triple Crown product to young adult racing fans,” said Chief Executive Charles Champion. “We see greater fan interest, higher deposit levels and more wagering.”

Youbet.com offers Internet and phone wagering to customers living in states that allow online horse wagering. Though online gambling is not allowed in the U.S., horse wagering is exempt from the law. Called pari-mutuel betting, Youbet’s system differs from casino betting in that players bet against each other, not against “the house.” Youbet takes revenues in the form of a “rake,” a percentage taken off the top of total wagers.