Florida notes: Campo settling in at new position

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – P.J. Campo, the newly appointed vice president of racing for the Stronach Group, spent his first week on the job getting used to the lay of the land at Gulfstream Park, and he saw a lot of very familiar faces during his first meet-and-greet with local horsemen.

Campo comes to south Florida after spending the last 16 years working for the New York Racing Association racing department. Campo began his career with NYRA as an entry clerk, worked his way up to racing secretary, and added vice president of racing to his job description six years ago. Campo resigned that position earlier this month.

“I’ve been mulling over the offer to come to work for the Stronach Group for a while and finally decided it was too good an opportunity to turn down,” Campo said. “There are a lot of good people in New York, and it was very tough to leave. I’m also a family man – I have a wife and three young children in New York – which made the final decision even tougher. But in the end, I felt opportunities like this don’t come along very often and saw it as a great chance to enhance my career in the industry.”

Tim Ritvo, Gulfstream Park president and general manager, was instrumental in bringing Campo to south Florida. He said Campo’s responsibilities entail much more than simply overseeing the racing program at Gulfstream Park.

“I think P.J.’s skill level and experience makes him one of the best in the industry, and we’re very proud to have him as a part of the Stronach Group,” Ritvo said. “He’s down here now to help out for the winter during our championship meeting. But eventually he will look over our entire process with the hopes of improving and ultimately tying together the racing programs at all five tracks currently under the Stronach Group umbrella.”

Campo said one of his major goals this winter will be to entice Northern horsemen to race at Gulfstream year round, now that the track has committed to a 12-month racing season.

“Things are very exciting here right now,” said Campo who had a big hand in writing the first condition book for the championship meet, which opens Nov. 30. “The racing program has been getting better week by week with the championship meeting set to begin next Saturday. The stakes program is great, and we’re going to have a full barn area as more and more horsemen continue to arrive. I’m looking to tweak a few things, maybe bring a few new ideas to the table, and now that Gulfstream has established year-round racing down here, I’m hoping I can build on some of the relationships I’ve established over the last 16 years in New York and entice some of those guys to stick around instead of heading back north at the end of April. If we can bring 15 or 20 new outfits in for the summer, it would be a home run.”

Rainbow 6 minimum increasing

About the only other big change at Gulfstream this winter will be to the extremely popular Rainbow 6, which will have its minimum wager increased from 10 cents to 20 cents beginning Nov. 30. The change is to accommodate customers north of the border, primarily at Woodbine, Ritvo said.

“The bettors at Woodbine have expressed a lot of interest in taking part in the Rainbow 6 but have been prohibited in the past because the minimum wager up there is 20 cents,” Ritvo said. “We also plan to increase the percentage of money that goes into the daily consolation payoffs from 60 to 70 percent this season while decreasing the amount that goes to the carryover from 40 to 30 percent in response to suggestions from our customers.”

Alex Solis’s son begins career

Austin Solis, son of rider Alex Solis, will launch his riding career aboard Royal Distinction for trainer Juan Arias in Friday’s fourth race at Calder. Solis will then depart for Tampa Bay Downs where he plans to ride this winter, according to his agent, Tommy Owens.

Solis spent last winter galloping horses around this area for trainer Lisa Lewis, the summer at Saratoga with Todd Pletcher, and most recently has been working for Wesley Ward at Gulfstream.

“We’re hoping to get a good measure of business at Tampa to start out from Wesley and his father, Dennis,” said Owens, who has handled both Rosemary Homeister and Mark Guidry’s engagements at Tampa over the past several winters.

Reveron: Remember him?

Sunday’s six-furlong allowance feature at Gulfstream will mark the return of Reveron, who has not started since finishing second behind Take Charge Indy in the 2012 Florida Derby.

Reveron, a son of Songandaprayer trained by Agustin Bezara, will face a strong group that includes the Pletcher-trained Travelin Man and Apriority.

Jockey, trainer races

Apprentice Edgar Zayas will begin the weekend with a four-win lead over Jonathan Gonzales and a five-victory margin over Jilver Chamalfi as the trio vie for the first ever Gulfstream Park summer riding title. The 2013 summer meet ends Sunday.

Kirk Ziadie has dominated the trainer standings throughout the session, with a handful of his colleagues, including Peter Walder and Eddie Plesa Jr., battling for second place over the final weekend.