By HorseracingFLA Staff
Friday, July 10 – Gulfstream Park announced on Friday that it will raise purses an average of 10 percent beginning with its next condition book, on Thursday July 23.
Gulfstream’s announcement did not mention any dollar figures for purses.
Our review of entries shows Gulfstream with average daily purses of $228,250 for the four days from Thursday July 9 to Sunday July 12. That is a stretch without any stakes races and an average of 9.5 races a day.
A 10 percent increase from $228,250 would be $22,825 more, making the new daily purse average about $250,000.
In announcing the purse increase, Gulfstream general manager P.J. Campo (photo above) noted that Gulfstream’s third summer of live racing continues to show increases over the first two.
On July 5, Gulfstream played host for the first time to the Summit of Speed and handled $8.071 million, compared to the $4.678 million handled at Calder Race Course in 2013. The summit of Speed was not run last year.
“Business has been good,” said Campo, who also is vice president of racing for Gulfstream’s parent company The Stronach Group. “Our summer program continues to grow and there’s been great participation from horsemen around the country.”
He added: “We had a spectacular weekend on July 4 with the Summit of Speed. We will continue to build that program along with the fall meet at Gulfstream Park West (formerly Calder). We hope the purse increase will also continue drawing outfits from the rest of the country.”
Bill White, president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said in a release:”The horsemen are very happy to hear about the purse increase. I think its evidence of Gulfstream Park and the horsemen working together to make this happen.”
