By Dale Smith
Just a half an hour or so south of Boca Raton, at Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Federal Highway, is Gulfstream Park, home of some of the best thoroughbred racing the sport has to offer.
Owners and trainers from all over the country venture to South Florida for the celebrated 2010 spring meet, which runs from Jan. 3 through April 24, 2010. Many residents of Boca Raton currently or have been major participants in the Sport of Kings. From the wealthy horse owners living in the gated communities to the two-dollar bettor watching TVG’s Horse Racing Channel at Wowie’s Sports Bar, racing fans become excited at this time of the year watching and wagering on the “Road to the Triple Crown.”
The major Kentucky Derby prep races in Florida include the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes; run on Jan 23, the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 20 and, finally, the state’s most important race, the Grade I Florida Derby on March 20. All of them are run at Gulfstream Park. The winners of the Florida Derby are always top contenders and many times the favorite in the Kentucky Derby and the other two legs of the Triple Crown; the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
The first prep race, The Holy Bull, run at 1 mile on dirt, was won by 3-year old colt Winslow Homer by three-quarters of a length over favorite Jackson Bend, trained by Nick Zito.
Winslow Homer, trained by Anthony Dutrow, paid $9.60 to win over a fast track earning a Beyer speed figure of 91.
Zito said he believes his horse, Jackson Bend, could have had a better trip and is optimistic about his chances in the Fountain of Youth. Winslow Homer also will be pointed toward the Fountain of Youth and joining them will be the Todd Pletcher trained, Eskendereya, who won an allowance race locally in impressive fashion earlier in the meet.
Other potential candidates for the mile and an eighth Fountain of Youth include Remsen winner Buddy’s Saint, making his 3-year old debut, Fly By Phil and Lost Aptitude, the first two finishers in Calder’s Grade III Tropical Park Derby. Many of these horses are trained at the world famous Palm Meadows training facility here in Palm Beach County.
Besides the races for three year-old colts, Gulfstream Park’s spring meet features many other important stakes races in other divisions, including the $500,000 Donn Handicap for 4-year-olds and up held Feb. 6 and the Gulfstream Park Handicap, also for 4 year-olds and up, run at a mile on March 13th.
Gulfstream Park also has a newly renovated casino with fine dining and other events. They also offer simulcasting of races from other tracks around the country. Check the website www.gulfstreampark.com for more details.