Overnight stakes to be added to schedule
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the quality of the local horse population far superior to what it would normally be at this time of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Gulfstream Park racing office will adjust accordingly starting with the second condition book that begins April 23.
The 2020 spring stakes schedule does not begin until May 2 with a pair of $75,000 stakes on the grass for 3-year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, the English Channel and Honey Ryder, and the $100,000 Big Drama for Florida-breds going seven furlongs.
Mike Lakow, vice president of racing, said Wednesday he has added an overnight stakes for 3-year-olds to be decided at 1 1/16 miles on April 25 and another overnight stakes for older horses going 1 1/16 miles on turf May 9. He said there also will be a couple of five-furlong overnight stakes on the turf in the second book with overnight stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles to be offered at a still undetermined date a little further down the road.
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“Obviously, our first condition book for the spring meet was not written for the kind of horses that are still with us here now,” Lakow said. “So we plan to throw more races in, kind of ease into the situation, when we see the need. Most of our stakes categories were covered just recently on Florida Derby Day, so there is no immediate need for those types of races at the moment.”
Lakow said there has not been any discussion regarding the lowering of overnight purses. The purse account revenues lost recently as a result of the coronavirus pandemic include those from the shuttered casino and wagers made ontrack. Racing has been conducted behind closed doors here for the past several weeks.
“We’ve also had a lot of horsemen express interest in coming down here, but we have a strict policy that all horses coming into Florida must first be quarantined somewhere in the state other than at our training centers for two weeks, with no humans allowed to accompany any of the horses,” Lakow said. “All horses entered to race are also screened to make sure they have been in the state for two weeks before being allowed to train or run at a Stronach track. We’re doing everything in our power to protect our population here, both human and equine, as best we can under the current situation.”