Calder Sticking With Year-Round Dates Plan
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South Florida neighbors Calder Casino & Race Course and Gulfstream Park appear headed toward another 12 months of head-to-head weekend racing starting this July.
"We are staying with the schedule we have now and with our original dates filing—to run Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays every week," said John Marshall, Calder's vice president and general manager of racing, on the afternoon of Feb. 28.
Marshall made his comment approximately 90 minutes before the 5 p.m. EST deadline for Florida pari-mutuels to pick their race dates for the 12 months from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.
Gulfstream officials were not available for comment. But it is widely expected that Gulfstream will stay with the plan it sent to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering in early January.
That plan has Gulfstream running at least four days a week—including Fridays and Saturdays—each week during the 12 months beginning this July.
Gulfstream and Calder began head-to-head weekend racing in July 2013 and are scheduled to continue that way through the end of the current fiscal year.
Marshall said that Calder and Gulfstream were close to an agreement that would have prevented another 12 months of head-to-head racing a week earlier. He would not provide details of that proposed settlement nor discuss reasons the talks did not progress.