Gulfstream Park Plans to Increase Purses

Gulfstream Park announced July 10 it will raise purses an average of 10%, beginning with the next condition book July 23.

Gulfstream's third summer of live racing continues to show increases over the first two. On July 5, Gulfstream played host for the first time to the Summit of Speed and handled $8.071 million, compared to the $4.678 million handled at Calder Race Course in 2013, the last time it was run.

"Business has been good," said P.J. Campo, Gulfstream's general manager and vice president of racing for The Stronach Group, in a release. "Our summer program continues to grow and there's been great participation from horsemen around the country. We had a spectacular weekend on July 4 with the Summit of Speed. We will continue to build that program along with the fall meet at Gulfstream Park West (formerly Calder). We hope the purse increase will also continue drawing outfits from the rest of the country."

Bill White, president of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said in a release:"The horsemen are very happy to hear about the purse increase. I think its evidence of Gulfstream Park and the horsemen working together to make this happen."

Gulfstream's announcement did not mention any dollar figures for purses. A Blood-Horse review of entries shows Gulfstream with average daily purses of $228,250 for four days July 9-12, a stretch without any stakes races and an average of 9.5 races a day.

A 10% increase from $228,250 would be $22,825 more, making the new daily purse average about $250,000.

Jim Freer contributed to this story.