Gulfstream handle up as track becomes year-round venue

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – All-sources handle at Gulfstream Park continues to show steady gains as the evolution of the south Florida racing circuit shifts into greater permanence.

Daily handle for July at Gulfstream averaged more than $5.7 million, an increase of 10 percent from the comparable period in 2014. That’s the third-highest handle figure in North American racing for this time of year, behind only Saratoga and Del Mar.

It was on July 1, 2014, that The Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream, entered into an agreement to end its dates war with Calder Race Course, owned by Churchill Downs Inc. The Stronach Group now has the dates at Calder (renamed Gulfstream Park West), with racing to be conducted in October and November amid makeshift conditions, including temporary tents in place of a grandstand that Churchill is opting to raze.

With the long-term viability of racing at Gulfstream Park West eight miles away in question, Gulfstream officials are intent on becoming a year-round venue that will allure more horsemen who traditionally have raced here only during the winter months. While handle figures suggest they are succeeding in this transformation, a less quantifiable trend is revealed in the names of the trainers who otherwise did not have stables here just a couple of years ago, when Calder ran the majority of south Florida’s dates: Ralph Nicks, Mike Maker, Randi Persaud, Dave Kassen, Ronny Werner, Terri Pompay, Mike Trombetta, Leo Gabriel Jr., and more.

“Because this is our first full season of summer racing, we believe there is so much potential to strengthen our summer program,” said P.J. Campo, general manager and vice president of racing at Gulfstream. “We are committed to the future at Gulfstream and committed to the growth of Thoroughbred racing in Florida.”

According to figures provided by the track, gross handle at Gulfstream for the three-month period of April through June totaled $277 million, up a whopping 49 percent from the $186 million in combined handle for those three months in 2014, when Calder and Gulfstream were going head-to-head.

Understandably, these numbers are not as good as in wintertime, when Gulfstream typically competes with Santa Anita to be the most popular signal in North America and has access to a greater horse population, with the Palm Meadows training center nearer to full capacity and trainers such as Todd Pletcher filling the Palm Beach Downs training center (and Payson Park is open, too). Average handle at the 2014-15 championship meet (Dec. 6 to April 7) was $8.1 million.

Still, upgrading the Gulfstream product in those off-winter months is a major goal for Campo, who came here in November 2013 from the New York Racing Association.

“We’re seeing more and more horsemen stabling horses at Gulfstream and Palm Meadows throughout the entire year,” said Campo.

Kristin Mulhall is another trainer hanging out a new shingle at Gulfstream, having sent a string of horses here on a cross-country journey from her longtime Southern California base several weeks ago. Mulhall had her first local starter – and winner – on Thursday, when the newly acquired Thunder Basin romped to a 6 1/2-length score in the third race as an odds-on favorite.

“We sent them all by van, and they needed time to get over that,” she said. “We’re here for the long run. I’ve got 10 head here and another 30 back at Del Mar.”

Mulhall, 33, began her training career in 2002. She is the daughter of Richard Mulhall, the noted trainer and racing manager who died in May at age 76.

Pegasus statue nearly complete

The huge bronze statue of the mythical horse Pegasus that stands 11 stories high in the Gulfstream parking lot is essentially complete, with only finishing touches to come. Reported to have cost at least $30 million, the structure could be open to the public in the near future, according to a Gulfstream spokesman, with its ground-level stone dome perhaps housing a 360-degree theater.

Meanwhile, construction on the south side of the track also has begun on a movie theater that will further enhance an entertainment and retail complex already consisting of a wide variety of restaurants and shopping outlets.