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HorseracingFLA Staff Report
We are coming up on one of the biggest weekends of the year in Florida thoroughbred racing.
It will be highlighted by Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth (Grade 2) at Gulfstream Park. That is one of eight stakes races at Gulfstream on Saturday.
Entries for those races will be out today.
The Fountain of Youth, at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, is a major prep on the Kentucky Derby trail. Saturday’s field will be headed by the unbeaten Mohaymen, winner of the Holy Bull (Grade 2) at Gulfstream on Jan. 30.
We will have previews and on Saturday we will be on-site for coverage.
Here are some other things we will be doing and covering over the next several days (all times Eastern).
*Wednesday (today) – At 4:30 p.m., Churchill Downs Inc. (Nasdaq: CHDN) will release its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year for 2015.
We will monitor, especially for any developments concerning Calder Casino & Race Course.
*Thursday — From 4:00 to 4:30 our editor Jim Freer will be a guest on WDBF http://wdbfradio.com/ and the “It’s Post Time” show, broadcast live from Gulfstream.
We will talk about gaming bills that are pending in the Florida Legislature and about the Fountain of Youth.
The hosts of “It’s Post Time” are JJ Graci, a former trainer, and Anita “Samm” Graci, a former thoroughbred owner. The show airs live from Gulfstream each race day from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.—with racing industry executives, horsemen and journalists as guests.
WDBF, with studios in Fort Lauderdale, is an Internet-only radio station with a worldwide audience.
*Friday – At 9:00 a.m., the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research will hold a public meeting to discuss bills on gaming issues that are under consideration in the Florida Legislature.
The hot-button issue of decoupling is on the agenda for review. The Senate and House each have a pending gaming bill that would allow all Florida pari-mutuels except Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to decouple—i.e. stop holding live racing while still having poker, simulcast and (in counties where permitted) casinos with slot machines.
Under both bills, there would be a new “purse supplement pool” with decoupled pari-mutuels that have slot machines combining to add about $10 million each year to race purses at Tampa and about $10 million each year to race purses at Gulfstream.
