$3 Million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Headlines Jan. 27 Program with 8 Stakes
$1 Million Curlin Florida Derby March 30 Featured Among 34 Graded Stakes
First Saturday Dec. 2 Features $600,000 FTBOA Sire Stakes finale
BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Gulfstream Park’s prestigious Championship Meet—featuring the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Grade 1) and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Jan. 27 and $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 30—will offer 68 stakes in 2023-2024 with total purses of $14.875 million.
The Championship Meet, with racing over a new turf course, will begin Friday, Dec. 1 and conclude Sunday, March 31.
The Pegasus World Cup Day program will feature eight stakes, seven of which are graded. The Pegasus World Cup, a mile-and-an-eighth invitational for 4-year-olds and older, has established itself as the first major target of the new racing season for the classic division. The Pegasus World Cup Turf, a mile-and-an-eighth invitational contested by 4-year-olds and older, will be renewed over the newly installed turf course. The $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G3), a mile-and-a-sixteenth invitational for fillies and mares, will also be contested Jan. 27 on the turf course that is scheduled to host 38 stakes during the Championship Meet.
The three Pegasus Day invitational races will be supported by the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares; the $200,000 William L. McKnight (G3), a mile-and-a-half turf stakes for older horses; the $150,000 Fred Hooper (G3), a mile stakes for older horses; the $150,000 La Prevoyante (G3), a mile-and-a-half event for older fillies and mares on turf; and the $100,000 Carousel Club, a mile-and-70-yard overnight handicap for older horses on the synthetic course.
The Curlin Florida Derby, for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-an-eighth stakes, is a premier Triple Crown prep with 25 winners going on to victory in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and will headline the March 30 program that offers 10 stakes, five graded. The $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), for 3-year-old fillies, will also be featured on the Curlin Florida Derby undercard that will include the $200,000 Pan American (G2), for older horses at a mile-and-a-half on the turf; and the $150,000 Orchid (G3) for older fillies and mares at a mile-and-a-half on the turf.
The $150,000 Mucho Macho Man, a mile stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds, will kick off the Road to the 73rd running of the Curlin Florida Derby on the New Year’s Day program Jan. 1, followed by the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 3 and the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 2.
The 2023-2024 Championship Meet stakes schedule will be kicked off Dec. 2 by the finals of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by nominated Florida stallions—the $300,000 In Reality and the $300,000 My Dear Girl for fillies, both at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track.
