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The Florida Derby is the highlight of the horseracing season at Gulfstream Park and the most important race in South Florida, with 3-year-old thoroughbreds competing for a $1 million prize. It doesn’t
Two undefeated horses with a real shot at winning the Kentucky Derby in May will be at Gulfstream's on-track field, and add an East-vs.-West angle:
The day starts at 7 a.m. with the popular Breakfast at Gulfstream in the tiki area of the Hallandale Beach track. Special guest speakers give
Gulfstream has put together a guide for beginners who want to know how to place bets. Racing begins at noon.
And, again as in Louisville, it’s about the hats. The annual Florida Derby Hat Contest will be held in the Walking Ring after the call to post for the eighth race. There will be prizes of $100 (girls ages 2 to 12), $150 (girls ages 13 to 17) and $750 (women age18 and up).
Meanwhile, because this is the climactic day of racing at Gulfstream, here’s a reminder of five things we like about Gulfstream:
- Yard House: The best of the dozen or so bars and restaurants at the Village, Yard House was at the front of the craft-beer curve and still features about 130 imported, craft, and specialty ales and lagers.
- Poker action: Horseracing bettors, looking for something to do between races, sit at the tables, itching for action. And they’re impulse gamblers, math be damned. Sit there, wait for good cards, and they’ll likely all but hand you their money.
- Horse action: Gulfstream’s races usually consist of nine horses, well above the national average of six. And more horses mean more possibilities. And that means more gambling action.
- Support for injured jockeys: Gulfstream is among the most enthusiastic contributors to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF), a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides financial assistance to 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. Jockeys aren’t like pro athletes in major sports and have little control over their business and security. Gulfstream has charity poker, golf tournaments, and diners to help take care of those with devastating injuries.
- Pegasus, the 11-story, 715-ton monstrosity that cost $30 million and serves as the iconic image for Gulfstream. We've named it the Best Selfie Backdrop in South Florida.
Keep New Times Broward-Palm Beach Free... Since we started New Times Broward-Palm Beach, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering South Florida with no paywalls.
