Gulfstream releases stakes schedule for Championship Meet

Gulfstream Park announced a record $11.25 million

stakes program for its 2014-2015 Championship Meet, highlighted by the 64th

running of the prestigious Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on March 28.

The winter stakes program will have a total of 67 stakes

races -- 37 graded -- and will include purse increases for nine stakes, the

addition of two new stakes, and the inaugural running at Gulfstream of the W. L.

McKnight, La Prevoyante and Fred Hooper, all Grade 3 contests.

Gulfstream's 76th anniversary season of Thoroughbred

racing, which will kick off December 6 with the 15th running of the $1

million Claiming Crown and conclude Florida Derby Day, will once again play host

to the finest Thoroughbreds in the world and Hall of Fame trainers and jockeys. Gulfstream's stakes program will accommodate the country's most promising

three-year-old colts and fillies, turf stars and older horses.

Gulfstream's Championship Meet will also include six Super

Saturdays with programs featuring more than five stakes races.

Some of the Championship Meet highlights include:

"The stakes schedule for the 2014-2015 Championship Meet

shows Gulfstream Park's commitment to Thoroughbred racing, horsemen throughout

North America, and our fans," said P.J. Campo, Gulfstream's vice president of

racing. "We have increased the purses of nine stakes races, added two more, and

tweaked some of the distances of our graded stakes to help horsemen as they

prepare their horses for some of our major races later in the meet.

"The changes we've made have come after careful

consideration and dialogue with horsemen from around the country. We also talked

to fans and took into consideration the changes they suggested. Horsemen will

find kinder progressions in distances and better spacing to some of our stakes

races, and fans will see large fields and our weekends filled with major

graded-stakes races."

Ten of those major races will have purse increases. The

Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap, for older horses, will be increased from $250,000

to $300,000 while the Honey Fox, for fillies and mares at a mile on the

turf, will be increased from $200,000 to $300,000.

The remaining stakes races

getting purse increases from $100,000 to $150,000 are all Grade 3 events. They

are the Hutcheson (three-year-olds), Herecomesthebride (three-year-old fillies),

Appleton and Pan American (older horses on the turf), Marshua's River and The

Very One (fillies and mares on the turf), and the Skip Away and Hal's Hope

(older horses).

The Grade 3 Rampart, for fillies and mares at a mile, has been

moved from Florida Derby Day to Fountain of Youth Day and will go from 1 1/8

miles to one mile and its purse will be $100,000.

Connections stabled at Gulfstream and its satellite

training center, Palm Meadows, will have several options to prepare their colts

for the spring classics.

The schedule for colts and geldings kicks off January 3 with

three options -- the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man (formerly Gulfstream Park Derby) at

a mile, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid at six furlongs and the Grade 3, $100,000 Dania

Beach at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.

On January 24, the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2, $400,000 Holy Bull and

seven-furlong $150,000 Hutcheson will be contested followed by the 1 1/16-mile

$400,000 Fountain of Youth on February 21 and the seven-furlong Grade 2, $200,000 Swale

on February 28. It all leads to the prestigious $1 million Florida Derby on March 28.

The schedule for three-year-old fillies begins January 3 with the

Grade 3, $100,000 Old Hat at six furlong and continues with the Grade 2, $200,000 Forward Gal

at seven furlongs on January 24, the Grade 2, $200,000 Davona Dale at a mile on February 21,

and the Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on Florida Derby Day.

Gulfstream's turf course will provide a plethora of options

for three-year-old colts and fillies. Beginning with the Dania Beach, stakes for

sophomores on the turf will include the $100,000 Kitten's Joy at a mile January

24, the inaugural running of the $75,000 Texas Glitter on February 7 at five furlongs,

and the $150,000 Palm Beach on February 28 at 1 1/16 miles.

Three-year-old fillies will have the $100,000 Ginger Brew

at 7 1/2 furlongs on January 3, the $100,000 Sweetest Chant at a mile on January 24, and the

$150,000 Herecomesthebride at 1 1/16 miles on February 28.

Gulfstream, which has played host to Horses of the Year and

older handicap champions Cigar, Invasor, Saint Liam and Skip Away, will have

plenty of opportunities beginning with the Hal's Hope on January 10. The $350,000

Sunshine Millions Classic will be contested January 17. Three weeks later,

Gulfstream will play host to the $500,000 Donn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and $100,000 Fred Hooper at a mile. The Gulfstream Park Handicap

on March 7

will be followed by the Skip Away at 1 3/16 miles on Florida Derby Day.

Older fillies and mares will have the $250,000 Sunshine

Millions Distaff on January 17, the Grade 3, $150,000 Hurricane Bertie on February 14, the

Grade 3, Rampart on February 21, the Grade 2, $200,000 Royal Delta (formerly the Sabin)

and the Grade 2, $200,000 Inside

Information on March 21.

Gulfstream's 180-foot wide turf course will see many of the

country's top stars beginning opening day with 33 turf stakes, 16 graded. The

first graded stakes for older horses will be the 1 1/2-mile W.L. McKnight on December 27. The

Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Lauderdale will be run on January 10 followed by the

January 17 Sunshine Millions Turf, the January 31 H. Allen Jerkens, the February 7

Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap and Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, the February 21 Mac Diarmida and Canadian Turf, the March 14 Silks Run, and the March 28 Pan

American and Appleton.

Fillies and mares will hit the turf December 27 for the Grade 3 La Prevoyante, the January 10 Marshua's River, the January 17 Sunshine Millions

Filly & Mare Turf, the February 7 Grade 3 Suwannee River, the February 21 The Very One and

Ladies Turf Sprint, and the March 28 Honey Fox and Orchid.

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