Gulfstream Park meet opens amid uncertainty, but with high expectations

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – Gulfstream Park, one of the few racetracks able to soldier through the early days of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, will be back in the national spotlight beginning Wednesday with the opening of the 2020-21 Championship meeting, which runs through March 28.

Fallout from the ongoing pandemic includes a stakes schedule that has had both the number of races and the purses reduced from the previous year. The grandstand will remain virtually empty, at least for the time being, as it was so eerily when the 2019-20 Championship season rang down on Florida Derby Day eight months ago. Only owners, trainers, and specially invited Diamond and Platinum Club members will be allowed to attend the races. Owners and trainers will be confined to the North Tiki area or in previously purchased outdoor suites, with the club members restricted to the Silks simulcast center.

Purses for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 23 remain the same as a year ago. The prestigious Florida Derby, traditionally valued at $1 million, will offer a purse of $800,000 when it is decided March 27, while the Holy Bull and Fountain of Youth, the premier Florida Derby preps, have had purses cut to $200,000 and $350,000, respectively, for this meet.

:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Gulfstream Park Clocker Report

Along with the pandemic, the Championship meet also will be at the mercy of the weather. Management and local horsemen hope the weather will treat them a lot kinder than it did during the recently concluded Gulfstream Park West meet, which was inundated by rain, forcing the cancellation of 90 scheduled turf races during the 40-day session.

Despite all the uncertainties, vice president of racing Mike Lakow remained upbeat as opening day approached.

“Obviously, it’s hard to predict exactly what’s going to happen over the next several months, but I’m very optimistic we’re going to have a banner meet,” Lakow said. “All three of our barn areas – Gulfstream, Gulfstream West, and Palm Meadows – are going to be completely full. There will not be an empty stall at any of them. And along with our regulars, the list of new trainers coming down is very impressive. Brad Cox has taken a full barn of 36, Jack Sisterson is here with the Calumet horses, and we have many New York-based trainers taking stalls for the winter, including Jeremiah Englehart, Michelle Nevin, and Orlando Noda, just to name a few.”

Lakow said changes to the stakes schedule were necessary to protect the integrity of overnight purses during the meet.

“We cut some minor stakes out, nothing significant, and reduced purses where necessary,” Lakow said. “The problem is having no ontrack handle for a yet undetermined amount of time. We’re trying to do the best we can going into the meet so as not to have to address overnight purses at all over the winter.”

Turf racing, as always, will be the major focus of the daily fare, and if there was one benefit to the 28 inches of rain that fell here in October and November, Lakow says the grass course will be as good as ever come opening day.

“I’m told because of all the rain we’ve had, the root system is as thick and strong and deep as we’ve seen here in a very long time, so I’m very optimistic, weather permitting, the turf course will be able to get plenty of use,” Lakow said.

:: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program.

The first major event of the meet will be Saturday’s Claiming Crown, offering nine stakes topped by the $150,000 Jewel at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. The following Saturday features five stakes, four of them graded, including the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Wednesday’s 10-race opening-day program features a pair of allowance races, the first of which is worth $47,000 and goes at six furlongs on the main track. Carded as race 8, it lured a field of seven 3-year-olds and up, with the 3-year-olds Ashaar and Ournationonparade likely to vie for favoritism.

Ashaar has been idle since finishing a wide-running seventh in the Mucho Macho Man here Jan. 4. An impressive debut winner in New York during the fall of his 2-year-old campaign, the son of Into Mischief began his career with Kiaran McLaughlin, who retired this year from training to become a jockey agent. Ashaar now resides at Palm Beach Downs, where he’s worked steadily for his return for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Ournationonparade was freshened following a fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint here Sept. 5. Trained by Kathy Ritvo, Ournationonparade posted his only victory in the restricted Maryland Million Nursery Stakes at 2. He finished third behind stablemate Double Crown in the Carry Back at Gulfstream in July.