FLORIDA
What the future holds for Florida racing and breeding For decades, a settlement in the Middle East seemed more likely to happen that an agreement on dates between South Florida’s three warring thoroughbred racetracks, Calder Raceway, Gulfstream Park and Hialeah Park. WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: LOuISE REInagEL, STEVE MaRTInE, HORSEPHOTOS
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hAT changed last July when the Florida Division of PariMutuel Wagering approved an historic deal between Frank Stronach’s Gulfstream Park in hallandale and Churchill Downs’ Calder just eight miles away that sealed the future of racing in South Florida for six and a half years. Gulfstream will conduct racing 10 months per year at its own track, and, through its lease agreement with Churchill Downs, for two months, October and November, at Calder under the new name of Gulfstream Park West. Gulfstream Park West’s initial meeting concluded on the final day of November—six days before racing shifted back to Gulfstream. Sadly for many, unless there is a legislative change, John Brunetti’s beautiful hialeah Park, which now conducts Quarter horse racing, will continue to be irrelevant as a Thoroughbred racing outlet. Maybe Frank Stronach envisioned this when he commissioned and built the magnificent 110-foot, $30-million statue of Pegasus slaying a dragon in Gulfstream Park’s north parking lot. For Gulfstream is now the undisputed king of racing in South Florida, and Pegasus lets the world know. “It’s iconic,” Gulfstream Park President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Ritvo, also former trainer, said Jan. 6. “It’s a brand. It’s a legacy that Frank says, `This is horse racing. This is the horse.’ At first, everybody thought, `What are they doing?’ Now, people stop and take pictures. It’s just a monumental thing not a lot of people would have done. Mr. Stronach is a long-term thinker, and he thinks this is our brand.” Stronach, now 82, has never been bashful about promoting his concept of racing: that a track should be part of a destination, not the lone attraction. That is why he built a village
full of stores and restaurants around Gulfstream Park. “I honestly believe we’re in our infancy,” Ritvo said. “I see Gulfstream becoming a yearround mecca destination with horse racing as part of it, where families can come and spend a weekend. I see a hotel overlooking the racetrack—condos being built on it. I’ve been to hong Kong. Gulfstream can become a downtown hong Kong, where racing will be part of the attraction. It will become the future of what racetracks will look like... an entertainment experience. At first, that viewpoint wasn’t popular. Not a lot of people thought it was going to work. But it makes no sense to have the facility only open noon to 5 p.m., four or five days a week.” Accordingly, Gulfstream Park, besides culling local involvement by scheduling concerts and weddings, has become a major player nationally in the racing industry. For the second year in a row, Gulfstream Park is the site of the Eclipse Award Dinner on Jan. 17, and, two nights later,
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Gulfstream can become a downtown Hong Kong, where racing will be part of the attraction. It will become the future of what racetracks will look like...an entertainment experience. Tim Ritvo
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the Jockey Guild Awards Dinner. Additionally, Fasig-Tipton’s two-year-olds-in-training sale has relocated from Stronach’s Adena Springs Complex in Willston, Fla., to Gulfstream Park. An under-track show on the main track will be March 2 and the one-day sale on March 4. But does that portend a favorable future for Thoroughbred racing in South Florida? Most South Florida horsemen believe they were fortunate that Stronach, not Churchill Downs, will be the face of racing in South Florida. “What you have going on right now is two entities that are on the opposite sides of the Earth as to how they feel about horse racing,” Calder hall of Fame Trainer Bill White said. “Churchill thinks horse racing has a bleak future. They want to exit from horse racing and become a casino. On the other end is Gulfstream. They think racing does have a bright future and they are doing everything they can.” Initially, Gulfstream leased 430 stalls at Calder. When Calder announced in early December that unspecified development on part of the property would begin Jan. 1, there were 700 other horses at Calder with nowhere to go. Gulfstream stepped in and built more than 400 temporary stalls and helped horsemen find other options for the rest. The way Gulfstream Park helped those horsemen has ensured that no matter how Stronach was previously perceived by Florida horsemen has forever been replaced by extreme gratitude and appreciation. “We will accommodate every horse that is stabled at Calder,” Ritvo said. “Once the Northern stables go back at the end of March, there will be room. We’ll make sure there is. We’re adding another 170 stalls in a new barn for the Fasig-Tipton Sale, and we’re only using them for a few weeks. There are very few other racing jurisdictions building barns. There is no ROI on a barn. But it needs to be done. It’s an ISSUE 35 TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM
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