HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The grass will definitely be greener beginning Thursday at Gulfstream Park when turf racing returns here following a hiatus of almost six months to renovate the seven-furlong course. Thursday’s nine-race program includes three races on the grass, including the afternoon’s main event, a $72,000 allowance dash for fillies and mares at five furlongs. The Gulfstream Park racing office wasted little time putting the new course to good use, carding 17 races on the turf through Sunday. They will be the first races run on grass locally since June 12. “It’s about time,” Gulfstream Park’s Vice President of Racing Operations Mike Lakow said with a smile when asked his thoughts about finally being able to card races on the turf. “All the horsemen are thrilled to have the opportunity to get back on the grass. It opens up the possibility for some terrific racing for us in December and then continuing on through the Championship meet.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports The Gulfstream Park Championship meet, which traditionally opened the first weekend in December, has been moved back until Dec. 26 this season to coincide with opening day at its sister track Santa Anita. “We’ve got to get the players back that have missed being able to wager on turf racing here all this time,” Lakow said. “We’ve also raised purses some starting Thursday, with allowance races and maiden special weight races slated to take another jump starting Dec. 26. Our barn areas should be full within the next couple of weeks, and I think we’re really on track to have a great winter meet.” The new turf course got its first test during training hours Monday when leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sent out the team of Fawning and Midnight Bella to breeze a half-mile in 53.42 seconds. The pair was kept out near the middle of the course by jockey Julien Leparoux and former rider Aaron Gryder, who now serves as vice president of industry relations for track owner 1/ST Racing. “The course seems to have a good cushion on it,” Joseph said. “I didn’t see much in the way of any divots when the horses worked. Julien told me the horses got over it well. But the course has been rested for six months. We’ll see how things go once they start running races over it again.” Thursday’s feature lured a field of seven, led by stakes winner Empress Tigress, the stakes-placed Miss Majorette, and the lightly raced but very fast Love and Money, who returns to action off a one year layoff for trainer Cherie DeVaux. Empress Tigress launched her career with two straight victories earlier this season, including a game half-length tally over Poppy Flower, a two-time stakes winner in her own right, in the Coronation Cup at Saratoga. Trained by Jonathan Thomas, Empress Tigress makes her local debut off a second-place finish as the 6-5 favorite under allowance conditions going 5 1/2 furlongs earlier this fall at Keeneland. She was caught late by longshot Touch of Class after opening a seemingly commanding advantage near mid-stretch. The stretch-running Miss Majorette figures to benefit from what projects to be a rapid and potentially contested pace. Her best effort was a second-place finish behind the multiple stakes winner Miss J McKay in Belmont Park’s six-furlong License Fee Stakes on May 1. Love and Money showed plenty of promise as a 3-year-old in 2021, capturing 2 of 5 starts including a first-level allowance dash over the Keeneland turf by 3 1/4 lengths for which she earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. Love and Money has made only one subsequent start, finishing fifth after failing to show her best early foot as the 2-1 favorite in the Pan Zareta Stakes last December at the Fair Grounds. Constitution Gal, Miss Majorette’s uncoupled stablemate from the barn of trainer Mark Casse, makes her stakes debut off a one-sided allowance win at Woodbine. Completing the lineup are Fulton Market, Mamba Wamba, and War of Ages. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.