Gulfstream-at-Calder meet to have $1.8 million in stakes

Gulfstream Park will operate a fall meet at Calder Race Course from Oct. 8 through Nov. 30 which will feature a stakes program worth nearly $1.8 million. Dubbed the Fall Turf Festival, the meet highlights will be a pair of Grade 3, $100,000 races on Nov. 22 – the Tropical Turf Handicap and the My Charmer Handicap.

The Tropical Turf and My Charmer were mainstays at the old Tropical at Calder meet, which was traditionally run in the fall. But the Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream Park, reached an agreement earlier this summer with Calder’s owner, Churchill Downs Inc., to lease the Miami track for the next six years.

Running a 40-day fall meet at Calder will allow Gulfstream’s turf course to regenerate in time for the opening of its winter session, which begins on Dec. 6.

The remaining 21 stakes on the fall schedule at Calder are worth $75,000 each, including eight races restricted to Florida-breds on Nov. 8, which is dubbed Sunshine Millions Preview Day. Two-year-olds will take center stage three weeks later, on Nov. 29, with six stakes for juveniles ranging in distances from six furlongs to a mile on both the main track and turf.

P.J. Campo, Gulfstream’s vice president of racing, said the fall meet at Calder will “serve as a bridge” between the Gulfstream summer and winter meets.

“Obviously, this will be a new experience for all of us, but we intend to learn from this inaugural meet, get feedback from horsemen and fans, and begin building on what we hope will be a great fall tradition in Thoroughbred racing,” Campo said.

Racing during the fall meet at Calder will be conducted from Wednesdays through Sundays. There will also be racing on the Mondays of Columbus Day, Oct. 13, and Veterans Day, Nov. 11.