New Horsemen Set for Gulfstream Spring/Summer Meet

Although the 2016-17 Championship Meet has concluded, highlighted by the $1 million Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) and the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), Thoroughbred racing will continue uninterrupted at Gulfstream Park through the spring and summer months.

An influx of new stables and holdover Championship Meet stables are ready for the 2017 spring/summer racing program, slated to get under way April 5. The new stables will serve to further enhance the highly successful year-round program established by Gulfstream four years ago. 

While Todd Pletcher, who clinched an unprecedented 14th consecutive Championship Meet title and his record fourth Florida Derby (G1), and Chad Brown, the 2016 Eclipse Award-winning trainer, are planning to participate at Gulfstream through April, the barn areas at Gulfstream, Gulfstream Park West, and Palm Meadows Training Center are receiving new arrivals.

A strong contingent from Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots includes trainers Keith Bourgeois (40 stalls), Ron Faucheux (20), and Kathy Mordenti (15). K.K. Jayaraman (25) is venturing to Gulfstream for the first time from Oaklawn Park. Gerald Bennett, the leading trainer at Tampa Bay Downs, has been allotted 50 stalls at Gulfstream.

Mark Casse, Michael Maker, Wesley Ward, Chuck Simon, Jena Antonucci, Patrick Biancone, Eric Guillot, Carlo Vaccarezza, and Michelle Nihei will continue to have a year-round presence at Gulfstream, while Armando De la Cerda, who maintained a 20% win rate during the Championship Meet while venturing to Gulfstream for the first time, has committed to the spring/summer program with a stable of 30.

New Jersey mainstays Joe Orseno, Eddie Broome, Tim Hills, and Terry Pompey will participate year-round.

Gulfstream will maintain its five-day weekly schedule through May before scheduling four-day weeks through September. Special programs have been scheduled for Memorial Day (May 29), Independence Day (July 4), and Labor Day (Sept. 4).

The spring and summer program will be highlighted in part by a robust 2-year-old program with approximately 150 races planned. There will be 10 juvenile stakes—two Florida-breds preferred—worth $1.75 million.

Six of Gulfstream's 29 stakes will be restricted to Florida-breds and four others will be Florida-breds preferred.

The Summit of Speed and the Florida Sire Stakes series for Florida-sired 2-year-olds will highlight the spring/summer stakes schedule.

The $250,000 Princess Rooney (G2) and the $250,000 Smile Sprint (G3) stakes, Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" races, will be featured on Summit of Speed Day July 1, along with five other stakes.

The $100,000 Dr. Fager and the $100,000 Desert Vixen stakes will kick off the Florida Sire Stakes Series Aug. 5 and will be followed by the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan's Girl stakes Sept. 2, with the $400,000 In Reality and $400,000 My Dear Girl stakes Sept. 30.

Gulfstream will also host a number of events throughout the spring and summer including the Spring Extravaganza April 14, Summer Soirees, and a free July 4 party.