Expectations high as championship meet kicks off

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Following a two-month hiatus, racing returns Saturday to Gulfstream Park with the opening of the 2014-15 championship meeting, which runs through March 29.

Horsemen and horseplayers alike are eager to get back to the mother ship after spending the last eight weeks racing at nearby Gulfstream Park West. Despite running head-to-head with Calder last winter, business at Gulfstream was brisk, and officials for the Stronach Group, which now operates both facilities, are optimistic that things will only get better with the detrimental conflict between the neighboring tracks now in the past.

“I think everyone is excited about coming back here, excited about the opening, and excited about the meet that lies ahead,” said Gulfstream president and general manager Tim Ritvo. “We think coming right out of the gate with the Claiming Crown on Saturday is a big kickoff, and having been away from here for the last two months, there is a lot more anticipation surrounding the opening of this meet than there was when we kicked off the championship meet last year right on the heels of our summer session.”

There will be a new wrinkle to the stakes schedule this winter, with stakes racing to be conducted Saturdays only. The majority of those Saturday cards are stacked with graded stakes, topped by Fountain of Youth Day and Florida Derby Day, featuring eight stakes apiece.

“We have the best product, the best horses, the best signal in the country during the winter, and we want to be in a position to deliver that product on the busiest day of the week to reach as many customers as possible,” said vice president of racing P.J. Campo. “And by spreading out our good allowance races and maximizing field sizes, we hope to put together quality cards that will also be attractive to our players even without stakes racing on Sundays as well.”

Despite competing with Calder last season, field sizes averaged almost 8.5 horses per race during the 2013-14 championship meet, and Campo is confident that he can improve on that figure this winter.

“We averaged 8.8 starters per race this summer and 8.7 per race over at Gulfstream Park West, which is unheard of racing six days a week,” said Campo. “The barn area is overflowing here, and they are also full at Palm Meadows, Calder, Payson Park, and Palm Beach Downs, so our goal is to average nine starters per race during the championship meet.”

Of course, good weather is the key to maintaining big field sizes, especially if it allows Campo to get maximum use out of the turf course once again this winter.

“The turf course looks fantastic,” said Campo. “The portion of the course from 96 feet in hasn’t been used since May, and we’ve been able to renovate the outside portion of the course with racing being conducted across town during the last two months. All we need now is for the weather to cooperate.”

Purses will start off at an average of $250,000 a day, but if business flourishes, as expected, Ritvo said his goal will be to hike purses up to $400,000 daily, including stakes races, by January.

It’s hard to improve on the core group of major trainers who race here regularly each winter. The 50 top trainers on last year’s list are back again, including perennial leader Todd Pletcher, who shoots for his 12th consecutive title this season. Pletcher will have the majority of his potent stable bedded down at the Palm Beach Downs training center this winter rather than at Palm Meadows, as in the past. Among the notable additions to the local colony are the New York-based trio of David Jacobson, Leah Gyarmati, and Jeremiah Englehart.

“We have everybody back here again this season, many of them better stocked this year than last,” said Campo. “Guys like Tom Bush, Gary Contessa, even Chad Brown, who has over 100 horses at Palm Meadows, are bringing even bigger and stronger stables down than they had here last winter.”

The same holds true for the talented and deep jockey colony, anchored by three-time defending champion Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Joel Rosario, and Paco Lopez. They’ll be joined by several prominent new additions, including Frankie Dettori, who arrives in January, and Rajiv Maragh, once he recovers from injuries sustained in a spill aboard Wicked Strong in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

As usual, the Florida Derby is the cornerstone of the stakes schedule and one of three Grade 1 stakes here this season, along with the Donn and Gulfstream Park Turf handicaps, both of which will be run Feb. 7. Overall, there are 37 graded races on the calendar, beginning Dec. 13 with the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl.

“I think we’re really going to start to see the fruits of all the hard work everyone around here has put in to make this kind of thing happen without the competition from Calder that hampered our growth a bit last year,” said Ritvo.