Championship Meet

After a two-year hiatus which included a television stint for NYRA and FOX, Rajiv Maragh is set to get back into race riding Sunday at Gulfstream Park with two mounts on a 10-race program, the track announced via presser Saturday. The winner of 1939 races is named on Gabagool (Ransom the Moon) in race five and Supers Lucky Lady (Superestrella) in race 10, and himself admits that the 2,000-win milestone was a motivating factor in his return along with the birth of his second child, daughter Lilah, who made her...

Gulfstream Park will host the 10th annual Jockeys and Jeans event, a fundraiser for the PDJF, on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. "Gulfstream Park and 1/ST are pleased to host Jockeys and Jeans during our Championship Meet, and we're proud to partner as we work together to advance and promote the welfare and security of jockeys and riders during and after their careers," said President of Racing and Business Development for 1/ST Racing Stephen Screnci. Jockeys and Jeans, which to date has raised over $3.4m and brought in $425,000 last year...

Highlighted by the Jan. 25 $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Jan. 25 and the Mar. 29 $1 million Curlin Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park will launch its 2024-2025 Championship Meet Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 and run through Mar. 30, 2025. The meet will play host to a total of 66 stakes races--30 graded--totaling $15.025 million. Opening weekend begins with 2-year-old turf stakes Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 29, and the $600,000 finals of the Florida Sire Stakes Saturday, Nov. 30. Pegasus World Cup Day...

The Gulfstream Park Championship Meet ended Sunday with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. defending their respective titles. Ortiz finished the meet with 119 winners, a mark that saw him top the rider's standings for the fifth time in the last six seasons. "It went very good for us," said Ortiz. "It means a lot to win another title here. They make me feel at home here. The owners, everybody training here, the whole organization-- security and the people who work here--they make me feel good. I...

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. earned the 1,000th victory of his career when Palace Zip (Palace Malice) won the 10th race at Gulfstream Park Sunday. "It's amazing," Joseph said after being recognized and posing for photos in a winner's circle ceremony. "I remember the first one and here we are at 1,000. The first probably 200 took five or six years and it was a struggle, and the last 800 have come pretty quickly. We've gotten the opportunities from the owners and that's what you need. Without the owners, you can't...

Irad Ortiz Jr. finished off the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in style Saturday, piloting Forte to a victory in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby to tally his sixth winner on the day alone. With three more winning rides on Sunday's closing day program, Ortiz finished the Championship Meet with 128 victories to reclaim the jockey title for the winter Thoroughbred session. Ortiz ran away with this year's title while finishing 57 wins ahead of the Luis Saez, who finished three wins ahead of third-place Jose Ortiz. "I've had big...

American Icon (Gun Runner), sent off at 6-5 in this unveiling after a steady series of works at Palm Beach Downs, led from flagfall to finsh and scampered home to a 8 1/2-length win, good for the 'TDN Rising Star' nod. Sold as a yearling from the draft of Denali Stud, agent, the April foal brought $400,000 from Maverick Racing, the buying arm of WinStar. He duly made his career bow for WinStar Farm and Siena Farm in the white WinStar silks Sunday. The last horse to load, American Icon...

Gulfstream Park announced it will increase all overnight purses 10%, effective Wednesday, Mar. 3. Mike Lakow, Gulfstream's Vice President of Racing, said the increase is due to the quality of the live program throughout the Championship Meet. "We are pleased to be in a position to raise purses for horsemen who have been so supportive during this racing season," he added. Gulfstream enters the ninth weekend of its Championship Meet with nine stakes (eight graded) Saturday highlighted by the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S., GII Davona Dale S., and...

When Gulfstream kicks off its Championship Meet on Dec. 2, fans will be welcomed back to the South Florida track. Bill Badgett, the executive director of Florida racing operations for The Stronach Group, said the current plan is to allow fans to attend, with a limit of 50% of the track's capacity. He said that would allow as many as 6,000 or 7,000 fans to attend races like the GI Pegasus World Cup and the GI Florida Derby. "It will be great to see people down on the rail watching...