And They’re Off: South Florida Racing Moves To Gulfstream

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 3) the Sport of Kings returns for another live racing season to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida (for five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, through April 23. Post time for each day’s first race is 1:15 p.m). A very popular and storied oval, total wagering for the track last year totaled $705 million, with an average of 8.65 horses per race. The Hallandale Beach track’s opening day feature is the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope. The $100,000 stakes is at one mile on the dirt, for horses 4 years old and up. The main highlight of the season, as usual, will be the Florida Derby (March 28), the last of Gulfstream’s stakes that trainers use as Kentucky Derby preps. In a change that everyone will welcome, Gulfstream now has 5,500 more parking spots-up from 3,000 in 2008. Several areas that were used for construction staging for The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex are now parking places. That complex, with 70 stores and restaurants, is scheduled to open in October 2009. Gulfstream plans to announce the first leases late this month.