HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It begins in the fall and ends in the spring, but the tradition-rich Gulfstream Park Championship meeting is still considered the winter meet by longtime horseplayers, who eagerly anticipate another star-studded season of racing in south Florida, beginning Saturday and continuing through April 1. Ascribing to the theory that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” it will be pretty much business as usual – with the emphasis on “business” – when the 2017-18 Championship meeting kicks off Saturday with the $1.1 million Claiming Crown, now the regular opening-day feature attraction. Total handle for the 2016-17 session exceeded $867 million, up 7.3 percent from the record handle of the previous winter, and P.J. Campo, vice president of racing for the Stronach Group, is hoping for more of the same this year. “We start again with the Claiming Crown, which has continued to grow since moving to Gulfstream Park, and then look to build on that,” said Campo, who earlier this year turned his general manager duties at Gulfstream Park over to former trainer Bill Badgett and the job of racing secretary over to former assistant Chris Camac. “Business-wise we have no specific goals. Obviously, weather is always key to our success, but we’ve had growth after growth after growth the last five years, and with a first-class racing program like we have here, we know how to make the numbers work.” :: Get extended Cyber Monday discounts on PPs, digital subscriptions, and more! The 2017-18 stakes schedule remains virtually identical to last season’s, with the one major addition the Dec. 9 Clasico International del Caribe, to be held outside the Caribbean or Latin America for the first time. The Clasico is the second of seven cards the track calls premium stakes days. The others are topped by the Claiming Crown, Sunshine Millions (Jan. 20), Pegasus World Cup (Jan. 27), Holy Bull (Feb. 3), Fountain of Youth (March 3), and Florida Derby (March 31). The inaugural Pegasus World Cup last year was won by Arrogate in a field that included California Chrome, and the card generated a track-record handle of more than $40 million. The purse for the second running of the world’s richest race has been increased from $12 million to $16 million this winter, with Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Gun Runner expected to be the odds-on favorite in a field likely to include BC Classic second- and third-place finishers Collected and West Coast. “Last year, we had the two best horses in the world for Pegasus, and now we’ve got Gun Runner, and while he seems to be far ahead of the others, no matter how you cut it it’s still a $16 million race and they still have to go around the racetrack,” Campo said. “At the end of the day, we’ll have a full gate of 12 horses and a great race surrounded by seven other stakes on the card.” The winner of the $1 million Florida Derby the last two years also has won the Kentucky Derby – Nyquist in 2016 and Always Dreaming this year. There will be no shortage of Triple Crown contenders stabled throughout the local area again this winter, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic; Entice, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club last Saturday at Churchill Downs; and Montauk, an eye-catching winner of his only start. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, will seek an unprecedented 15th consecutive training title during the Championship meet. Trainer Ralph Nicks is expected to run Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Caledonia Road at the meet. Pletcher and reigning Eclipse Award champion Chad Brown head an elite group of trainers back for another winter in south Florida. Among those joining the ranks this season are Gary Gullo and Danny Gargan, both of whom are sending a string down from New York. “We’re stacked and loaded with horses throughout the area once again,” Campo said. “We’ve got all the best New York outfits, a very good Kentucky contingent, a few new faces, and all the local guys who love to run, including Ralph Nicks with his Breeders’ Cup-winning filly and Antonio Sano, who has local favorite Gunnevera for the Pegasus World Cup.” Luis Saez will attempt to defend the jockey title he won a year ago, when he unseated perennial champion Javier Castellano. There will be few significant changes in the jockeys’ room this winter, with the one major addition likely to be Jose Ortiz, who is expected to join the colony early in 2018 after having knee surgery.