Calder gets extensive renovations as 'Gulfstream Park West'

In preparation for the upcoming

Gulfstream Park

Fall Turf Festival, the facilities at Gulfstream Park West, formerly Calder Race

Course, have undergone extensive renovations.

Overseen by Gulfstream Park consultant Bill Badgett, the project has been in

the works since Gulfstream took over management of the Miami Gardens property

earlier this summer. Under an agreement with Churchill Downs, Inc., that was

agreed to in July to end head-to-head racing in South Florida, Gulfstream is

leasing the racetrack, including 15 barns on the track's backside.

Those barns have been completely cleaned and refurbished with fresh paint,

wider shedrows lined with new footing, and newly installed electrical outlets.

The stalls in each barn have also been equipped with new eyehooks for buckets

and stall guards as well as custom-fitted mats designed to provide comfortable,

sure footing for the horses. The turf course at Gulfstream Park West has also

been renovated, having been weeded, fertilized, and given additional soil. Click

here for

video of all the upgrades.

"We went through each stall and through the barn area. We had to replace

about 230 of the feed tub holders, and we went around and put in about 350

eyehooks so people could have some place to hang their water buckets," Badgett

said. "We put virtually 1,000 pounds of clay at each end of the barn for the

stalls. We wanted to go the extra mile to make everybody happy, and when they

shipped their horses in from other racetracks, everybody would be very

comfortable."

The renovations have delighted the trainers on site, who say that the

improved conditions not only boost morale in the barn but also allow them to do

their jobs more efficiently. The group of supporters includes trainer Bill

White, who won 15 training titles at Calder and has spent almost 30 years

training in South Florida.

"The backside now has a freshness about it that was lacking previously,"

White said. "I came here in 1986, so I've spent now more than half my life on

the backside here at Calder. I was glad about Gulfstream taking over. I'm very

excited and I think a lot of other people are excited to have some new blood in

here -- Gulfstream -- putting some money in, some fresh ideas, and trying to get

this thing turned around."

Fellow trainer Marcus Vitali, who saddled Lochte to win the Gulfstream Park

Turf Handicap during last year's Championship Meet, echoed those sentiments.

"It's amazing," he said. "I've been coming back and forth between Gulfstream

and Calder for the last six years, and I've never seen Calder in this condition.

It's amazing what they've done to the backside. I couldn't ask for more."

Phil Combest, a longtime trainer and the president of the Florida Horsemen's

Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA), similarly expressed his pleasure

about how the renovations benefit the horses.

"The horses really need to be able to lay down and relax in their stall, and

it was impossible before," he said. "They were such a mess, and now, with the

re-claying and the painting and everything, the horses are happier, the barns

have got a better breezeway through there, and I think the help are going to be

terrifically surprised when they move into their dormitory rooms."

The Gulfstream Park Fall Turf Festival is slated to begin on October 8 and

will run through November 30. The 40-day boutique meet will feature 23 stakes

worth a total of $1.775 million. Highlights include the $600,000 Sunshine

Millions Preview Day, featuring eight $75,000 stakes races for Florida-breds, on

November 8 as well as the $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap and $100,000 My

Charmer, both on November 22. 

"When the quality of racing improves, there's owners out there that are

watching," White said. "Everybody now, whether it be through Internet,

television, or whatever, they have access to know what's going on. When these

owners see that the racing in South Florida is now improving, it's going to now

create the opportunity for new horses and new owners to send their horses here,

and being a trainer, that's good for me."

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