Photo: MEC
Anchored by a record-setting Florida Derby Day, Gulfstream Park ended its 79-day meet with total
handle of $550.9 million, an increase of 4.2-percent over 2009.
With arguably the worst winter ever in South Florida in
terms of both cold and rain, eventually forcing 42 races off the turf compared
to just 12 in 2009, Gulfstream
Park
was showing tremendous declines on its live racing. At the end of January,
on-track handle was down 19-percent while all sources was down 13-percent. As
the meet concluded, the on-track decline was all but erased (down less than
1-percent) while all sources handle soared to be up 4.2-percent.
“We faced a series of challenges this year, but through the
support of our horsemen and fans around the country, we turned it around,” said
Ken Dunn, President and General Manager of Gulfstream
Park.
“When you look at the field for this year’s Kentucky Derby, and other stakes
around the country, the quality of the program speaks for itself.”
An exceptionally strong Florida Derby Day on March 20 posted
significant on-track gains from the year before (24% handle increase and 42%
attendance increase) and set the all sources mark of $21,061,689 since the new
facility opened in 2006.
The Florida Derby also produced one of the leading
contenders for the Kentucky Derby in Ice Box, who leads an incredibly strong
contingent of Gulfstream-raced horses in the Kentucky
Derby. As many
as ten of the starters raced at Gulfstream this winter, including likely
favorite Eskendereya, who won the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth.
For the seventh consecutive year, Todd Pletcher was leading
trainer. Paco Lopez was leading rider while Frank Carl Calabrese was leading
owner.
Meet Totals
|
|
2009 Total
|
2010 Total
|
% Diff
|
|
On-Track
|
42,270,739
|
41,865,523
|
-0.96%
|
|
ITW
|
30,943,035
|
30,767,846
|
-0.57%
|
|
ISW
|
455,610,166
|
478,283,980
|
4.98%
|
|
Total
|
528,823,940
|
550,917,350
|
4.18%
|
Florida Derby Day (Saturday, March
20)
|
|
2009 Total
|
2010 Total
|
% Diff
|
|
On-Track
|
1,974,133
|
2,453,489
|
24.28%
|
|
ITW
|
1,115,840
|
1,181,074
|
5.85%
|
|
ISW
|
15,380,405
|
17,427,126
|
13.31%
|
|
Total
|
18,470,378
|
21,061,689
|
14.03%
|
Florida Derby Attendance: 10,125
(2009) vs. 14,414 (2010) (+42%)