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Florida Sire Stakes Moved As FL-Bred 2YO Incentives Announced

In an effort to further enhance the 2-year-old program in the state of Florida, 1/ST RACING, the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA), Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (FTHA) have announced that $1.75 million in Florida-bred racing incentives will be offered at Gulfstream Park in 2023. The renewed Florida-Bred Incentive Fund (FBIF) will pay out a total of $450,000 in bonus money to 2-year-old maiden winners.

The FBIF program offers Florida-bred two-year-old open maiden winners a minimum bonus of $2,500 for maiden-claiming races and up to $10,000 for a Florida-bred two-year-old winning an open maiden special weight race at Gulfstream.

The FTBOA will offer an additional $100,000 in win bonuses for eligible Florida-sired winners of open maiden special weights, paying $5,000 for up to 10 races for males and females.

“It's imperative that we all work together to promote and build a robust breeding and racing industry in the state of Florida,” Billy Badgett, 1/ST RACING's Executive Director of Florida Racing Operations, said. “To that end, it's important to attract new owners to our sport throughout Florida and the industry. These incentives, and the change in dates of the popular Florida Sire Stakes program, gives us a great opportunity to fulfill these goals.”

Additionally, the Florida Sire Stakes series, to be run at Gulfstream for the 10th straight season, offers $1.2 million in purses and have been pushed back on the annual racing calendar to give owners and trainers more time to prepare their Florida-bred juveniles for the lucrative series. The dates for the 2023 FSS are as follows:

Sept. 9–$100,000 FSS Desert Vixen S. and $100,000 FSS Dr. Fager S. at six furlongs;
Oct. 21–$200,000 FSS Susan's Girl S. and $200,000 FSS Affirmed S. at seven furlongs;
Dec. 2–$300,000 FSS My Dear Girl S. and $300,000 In Reality S. at 1 1/6 miles

“Florida's stakeholders are aligned with one focus–what can we do to help our breeding and racing industries?” said FTHA President Joe Orseno. “We need to find ways to make it worthwhile for breeders and owners to invest in our state. We believe that the new Bonus Program will encourage greater interest in buying and breeding Florida-breds. By moving the dates of the FSS races, late-developing 2-year-olds will have a better chance of participating. We are excited about the future of the Florida Thoroughbred industry.”

“FTBOA is pleased to work with Gulfstream and FTHA on a program for 2023 featuring our priority Florida Sire Stakes program while enhancing our Florida Breeders Incentive Fund for the benefit of our highly regarded Florida-bred 2-year-olds at Gulfstream on a summer through winter basis,” commented FTBOA CEO Lonny Powell.

FTBOA President George Isaacs added, “We are pleased with the continued FSS races as our industry centerpiece promoting Florida stallions and farms. I also consider it a plus anytime we can offer purse incentives for our bread and butter two-year-olds competing at all levels at Gulfstream. We anticipate this will be one of many cooperative efforts improving the industry economics and stability.”

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1/ST Racing Tour To Expand Its Partnership With NBC

1/ST will expand its partnership with NBC Sports to broadcast the 1/ST Racing Tour on NBC, CNBC and Peacock, they said in a Thursday press release. A series of connected coast-to-coast races that kicked off with the 2023 Pegasus World Cup, the tour will take place on the first Saturday over the next three months, and will also include the GI Preakness Stakes in May.

“While these legendary races are familiar to many, the 1/ST Racing Tour format brings a fresh and innovative approach to bi-coastal racing,” said Gregg Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST Content. “The volume of world-class racing content and the sheer number of televised races we are able to offer on premier race days coupled with big jackpots, new types of wagers and unique hospitality experiences is something that only 1/ST can deliver.”

This connected series provides over 11-hours of expanded racing content, including live coverage of six Triple Crown preps. 1/ST Racing Tour days feature full race day cards, 60 stakes races, coast-to-coast Pick 5 wagers and six 1/ST handicapping contests. Coverage of the 1/ST Racing Tour continues Saturday, Feb. 4, with two-hours of live broadcasts from Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST. NBC Sports' programming will also include supporting coverage on FanDuelTV.

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Report: 1/ST Racing Planning on Holding Pegasus Races at Santa Anita in 2024

According to an Associated Press report, 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, intends to bring the Pegasus format to the California in 2024.

“I'd really love to see that we bring it to the West Coast,” 1/ST President and CEO Belinda Stronach told the AP. “That will probably happen in 2024. What we did this year for 2023 was said, 'OK, we have a number of great race days, let's coordinate those better and call it the 1/ST Racing Tour and recognize great achievements within our own footprint.'”

The wire service reported that the plan is to have two Pegasus days in 2024, one at Gulfstream and the other at Santa Anita, with each program including turf and dirt races. It was not immediately clear where the two race days would fit into the calendar and what races would be run at each track. Stronach made it clear that the 2024 schedule will include Pegasus races at Gulfstream, the only home the events has known since it began in 2017.

“This is staying here in Miami,” Stronach said. “Pegasus has a home here in Miami. We can't move Pegasus from Miami. We have great partners here and it's more than just a day now. We have deep roots here in Miami.”

A California Pegasus will join the 1/ST Racing Tour, a package that includes many of the biggest days and races at the 1/ST tracks, including the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico. The tour also includes the runnings of the GI Florida Derby and the GI Santa Anita Derby.

“We can never rest on our laurels,” Stronach said. “We have to keep moving forward. We have a great team that's really committed.”

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Aidan Butler Joins TDN Writers’ Room

Whenever a day at the races can be turned into an “event,” the fans and the bettors turn out in droves, and there's no better example of that than the Pegasus World Cup Day card at Gulfstream. Highlighted by the GI Pegasus World Cup, the day has become among the most important on the calendar for 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream, and this year's handle could once again top the $40 million mark.

1/ST Racing CEO of Racing Aidan Butler will be among those responsible for putting on a good show this Saturday, and we brought him on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to tell us more about the Pegasus and the importance of getting people to the track to experience live racing. Butler was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

“Like everybody else, I am slightly depressed that racing isn't quite the draw that it once was,” Butler said. “If you are going to get fans back, you have to get them to the track. It's why we all fell in love with it. There is no feeling like the excitement of the horses coming past you and the buzz of the crowd. Like with a lot of other industries, it's a lot simpler to be digital. You can send the picture, you can bet on your app. That is never going to grow the sport back. Do I think we're going to be 60,000 people on a Wednesday at Santa Anita? No, but we can at least put our best foot forward when it comes to our marquee days and try to appeal to a broader audience. The Pegasus is an example. We take that to the nth extreme. It's a huge party and it's something that you don't see at racetracks, really, anywhere else in the world. We are really trying to elevate that experience. I think everybody has the understanding now that you have to compete from an experiential standpoint to get people back to the sport. You've got to offer them something that is really unique and the racing and the horses are about as unique as you get. So let's not let the side down with crappy food and bad hospitality and everything else. I'm never going to point a finger, but we may have been asleep at the wheel for a couple of decades, but we're coming back.”

This year's Pegasus was unable to land a major star like past winners Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) or Knicks Go (Paynter), but Butler seemed more than happy with the way the race came together.

“We got the best of what's out there,” he said. “Talk about competitive races. If you're looking for someone to bet, these races are very deep. Personally, I think it's the most competitive Pegasus by far.”

Butler was also asked to talk about Santa Anita's remarkable safety record in 2022 and the latest goings-on in Maryland. In 2020, the Racing and Community Development Act was passed and it earmarked $375 million for the rebuilding of Pimlico and Laurel. Since, the project has stalled. Why?

“Since the original plan, the numbers have gone through the roof,” Butler said. “Everything they had planned for has exponentially gotten more expensive, which has meant we have to be very thoughtful about how we go forward. The last thing we need is to go and spend a bunch of money, especially money that we might be getting from the state, and then being backstopped by the state. We've got to make sure we do it the right way. Luckily for us, the horsemen and women out there, the state representatives, all of the horsemen bodies and all of the people on our side, are being extremely thoughtful. I wish we could get this going. I'd love to see what a new building, particularly at Pimlico, could do, because I think that's a really big opportunity to get the Preakness back to its former glory.”

Speaking of the GI Preakness S., is 1/ST Racing still considering changing the date so that it is not run so close to the GI Kentucky Derby?

“Nothing has been decided and nothing is going to change at the moment,” Butler said. “Hopefully, when and if something changes, it'll be done as an announcement from the Triple Crown Group as opposed to one track trying to do something for the betterment of themselves. If you don't pay attention to the rest of the ecosystem, that's when silly stuff happens. Personally, I'm pretty, happy with where it's at. Internally, we've have some big debates and I've won a couple and lost a couple. But I think at the moment, let's not throw the baby out with the bath water because for once in decade a horse (Rich Strike) didn't run back in the Preakness.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley handicapped the Pegasus World Cup and the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf. The team a look back at last week's GIII Lecomte S. and the incredible run trainer Brad Cox is on and looked ahead to Saturday's GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn. And with another defendant being sentenced to prison for his role in the wide-ranging scheme to dope horses, the 52-month sentence handed down to standardbred trainer Nick Surick was an important topic of discussion.

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