Gulfstream Park launches what will likely be its most lucrative horse racing season ever Saturday, featuring its usual strong card of races and adding a unique endeavor: The $12 Million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28.
The entry fee for each of the 12 horses in the race is $1 million. Among the entries is California Chrome, who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Last season, Gulfstream Park set a record for wagering. The Hallandale Beach track now draws 13 cents of every dollar bet nationwide on horse racing, and it racing is still booming in a sport that otherwise has flat (at best) interest.
The total horse racing handle – the amount people bet either at the track or from other points via satellite — has remained at about $10 billion in the U.S. during each of the past five years. But Gulfstream’s portion has grown from $900 million in 2013 to $1.174 billion in 2014 to $1.338 billion in 2015.
And this year the numbers are even higher. For example, Gulfstream Park set an all-time one-day handle record of $32.09 million April 2 on its Florida Derby program, highlighted by Nyquist’s victory in the 65th running of the $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby.
As horse racing was dying elsewhere in the United States, Gulfstream Owner Frank Stronach in 2005 spent $171.5 million on a renovation in 2005. The casino added slots in 2006, and in 2010, a $1 billion outdoor mall, The Village, opened with 70 stores. Old-style horse racing fans hated him at first, but now he’s their hero. Heck, they almost forgive him for that monstrous Pegasus statue at the north entry.
Gulfstream President P.J. Campo calls the facility “a three-headed monster” and the racing handle has grown significantly because the track went from a four-month meet to year-round racing, muscling out nearby Calder Race Course by paying higher purses and offering more incentives for trainers and jockeys.
The races generally will start at 12:35 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.
On the casino side, Gulfstream has been on the low end of South Florida performers, taking in $48 million via slots in the fiscal year ending June 30, ranking sixth of the eight racetrack casinos in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets.
