2008 Stakes Schedule
The Florida Derby, to be run March 29, highlights a 2008 Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino stakes schedule that also includes a trio of half-million dollar events and the sixth running of the Sunshine Millions.
“We’re very excited about this meeting,” said Gulfstream Park President and General Manager Bill Murphy. “Fans and horsemen alike will recognize the addition of Bernie Hettel as Racing Manager and Bill Couch as Racing Secretary as one of the most important steps we took toward assuring a quality meet for 2008.”
Mr. Hettel has a long and distinguished history as a racing official while Mr. Couch had a career as a trainer before joining the Thistledown front office in 1988, eventually rising to Director of Racing there.
Both worked at Gulfstream Park’s 2007 meet, Mr. Hettel as association steward and Mr. Couch assisting in the racing office.
“The focus will be on competition – every day, every race – and stakes races are the marquee events,” Mr. Couch said. “After a spring and summer of race analysis and conversations with horsemen, we decided to experiment with a few things, and I have every confidence that the adjustments we have made will be well received by fans and horsemen.”
Gulfstream Park’s meeting gets under way with a bang Thursday, Jan. 3. The opening-day card features the inaugural South Beach, the first of six stakes to be contested the first four days of the meet. Closing day will be Sunday, April 20.
Gulfstream Park has been a proving ground for classic-bound 3-year-olds throughout its history and the Florida Derby has been the nation’s foremost prep for the Kentucky Derby. In its 55-year history, 38 3-year-olds have come out of the Florida Derby to win 51 Triple Crown events.
As it was when master horsemen Michael Matz guided Barbaro to a Florida Derby-Kentucky Derby double in 2006, the Florida Derby will be run five weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby.
A major change effects the $150,000 Holy Bull, a Grade 3 stakes that has served as a prep for future Florida Derby winners Hal’s Hope, Harlan’s Holiday and Friends Lake and as a prep for future Kentucky Derby winners Go for Gin, Funny Cide and Barbaro.
In recent years it has served as a lead-in to the Fountain of Youth. Whereas in 2008 the Fountain of Youth will be run Sunday, Feb. 24, the Holy Bull, to be run Saturday, April 12, will be contested after the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby.
The distance as well as the date of the Holy Bull has been changed: Lengthened to 1 3/16 miles, the race is only a sixteenth shorter than the Kentucky Derby, which will be run three weeks after the Holy Bull.
It thereby becomes the continent’s longest graded Kentucky Derby prep.
“Through the course of the last 50 or so years – and I’m not talking about an isolated two-or three-year span elsewhere – it’s been proven that Gulfstream Park is the place to be if you want to have a 3-year-old ready for the Triple Crown races,” Mr. Hettel said. “In addition to the superstars we have competing in the Florida Derby, we have seen quite a few horses develop here who may not have been ready for our big race, horses like Birdstone, Bernardini and Curlin.
“In making a few adjustments to the Holy Bull, which has been one of our most attractive and competitive races, we give owners and trainers the opportunity to compete for graded-stakes money just a few weeks before the Kentucky Derby. While their horse may not be ready to take on the best at a mile and an eighth the last Saturday in March, there is the possibility that, after racing in the Holy Bull, it will blossom to take on the best the first Saturday in May.”
The Sunshine Millions has proven to be one of the most popular events at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita. The eight-race series carries purses worth $3.4 million. Each racetrack hosts four events on a rotating basis: This year Gulfstream will host the Turf and the Distaff, each worth $500,000; the $300,000 Sprint, and the $250,000 Dash. Race day is Saturday, Jan. 26.
The third $500,000 race on the schedule is the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, won last year by defending Horse of the Year Invasor. In recent years the Donn has served as a springboard to the Dubai World Cup, which Invasor also won before his retirement in late spring. The Donn will be contested Feb. 2.
Other notable changes in the stakes schedule were the date shift of the 1 3/8-mile Mac Diarmida, a Grade 3 turf stakes run the latter part of January in recent years but slated for March 2 in 2008, and the elimination of six- and seven-stakes-a-day programs.
“Gulfstream’s stakes program is rich in history and opportunities and, in examining the stakes schedules from past years, we thought that running six or seven stakes in one day diluted the product,” Mr. Murphy said. “These races have a rich tradition and we, as racefans, wanted them to be savored the way they were meant to be.”
The four Sunshine Millions Day races remain intact and there will be three stakes Florida Derby Day, with two stakes scheduled for Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 (opening weekend), Feb. 2 (Donn Day) and March 2.
Gulfstream Park Stakes Schedule 2008
Jan. 3 South Beach 4 & up, fillies & mares $50,000 1 1/16 miles turf
Jan. 4 Canadian Turf Handicap (G3) 4 & up $100,000 1 1/16 miles turf
Jan. 5 Hutcheson (G2) 3-year-olds $150,000 7 furlongs
Mr Prospector Handicap (G3) 4 & up $100,000 6 furlongs
Jan. 6 Sabin Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $150,000 1 1/8 miles
Hal's Hope Handicap (G3) 4 & up $100,000 1 1/8 miles
Jan. 12 Old Hat (G3) 3-year-old fillies $100,000 6 furlongs
Jan. 13 First Lady Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $100,000 6 furlongs
Jan. 26 SUNSHINE MILLIONS DAY
Distaff 4 & up, fillies & mares $500,000 1 1/8 miles
Oaks 3-year-old fillies $250,000 6 furlongs
Sprint 4 & up $300,000 6 furlongs
Turf 4 & up $500,000 1 1/8 miles turf
Jan. 27 Appleton Handicap (G3) 4 & up $150,000 1 mile turf
Feb. 2 Donn Handicap (G1) 4 & up $500,000 1 1/8 miles
Swale (G2) 3-year-olds $150,000 7 furlongs
Feb. 3 Suwannee River Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $100,000 1 1/8 miles turf
Feb. 9 Forward Gal (G2) 3-year-old fillies $150,000 7 furlongs
Feb. 16 Hallandale Beach 3-year-olds $75,000 1 1/16 miles turf
Feb. 17 Hurricane Bertie Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $150,000 7 furlongs
Feb. 23 Gulfstream Park BC Turf (G1) 4 & up $350,000 1 3/8 miles turf
Feb. 24 Fountain of Youth (G2) 3-year-olds $350,000 1 1/8 miles
March 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) 4 & up $350,000 1 3/16 miles
March 2 Davona Dale (G2) 3-year-old fillies $150,000 1 mile
Mac Diarmida Handicap (G3) 4 & up $150,000 1 3/8 miles turf
March 8 Richter Scale BC Handicap (G2) 4 & up $225,000 7 furlongs
Very One Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $100,000 1 3/8 miles turf
March 9 Rampart Handicap (G2) 4 & up, fillies & mares $200,000 1 1/8 miles
March 15 Shirley Jones BC Handicap (G2) 4 & up, fillies & mares $200,000 7 furlongs
March 22 Skip Away Handicap (G3) 4 & up $150,000 1 1/8 miles
March 29 Florida Derby (G1) 3-year-olds $1 million 1 1/8 miles
Bonnie Miss (G2) 3-year-old fillies $150,000 1 1/8 miles
Palm Beach (G3) 3-year-olds $150,000 1 1/8 miles turf
March 30 Orchid Handicap (G3) 4 & up, fillies & mares $150,000 1 1/2 miles turf
April 5 Pan American Handicap (G3) 4 & up $150,000 1 1/2 miles turf
April 12 Holy Bull (G3) 3-year-olds $150,000 1 3/16 miles
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