Stakes Schedule Offers 66 Stakes Worth More than $15M<br> $3M Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Renewed Jan. 25<br> $1M Curlin Florida Derby (G1) Tops 10 Stakes March 29<br> Undefeated Rated By Merit Returns Saturday in $300,000 In Reality

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – The 2024-2025 Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park will get underway Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, when owners, trainers and jockeys, as well as Thoroughbred racing fans, will have the chance to give thanks for the many lucrative opportunities coming their way during the elite winter meet.

A total of 66 stakes, including 30 graded events, will offer purses in excess of $15 million during the 2024-2025 Championship Meet that will run through March 30.

The Championship Meet will offer a plethora of betting options, including win, place, show exacta, trifecta, double, superfecta, Super Hi 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, 20-cent Rainbow 6 and a $3 Tropical Turf Pick 3 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a 15-percent takeout. Gulfstream will also offer projected odds in December, giving fans insight into possible late shift in odds.

The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) will be featured on a Jan. 25 program with eight stakes worth $5.5 million in purses.

The $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1), Gulfstream’s premier Triple Crown prep, will headline a March 29 program with 10 stakes, including five graded races, worth $2.5 million in purses. The 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds has produced the winners of 59 Triple Crown events from 46 starters.

The $200,000 Holy Bull (G3), a 1 1/16-mile stakes for Triple Crown prospects, will be run Feb. 1, while the $400,000 Fountain of Youth, a 1 1/16-mile prep for the Curlin Florida Derby, will be contested on March 1.

The final legs of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions will highlight the opening weekend stakes action on Saturday, Nov. 30. St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit will seek to become the 11th colt or gelding to sweep the series in the $300,000 In Reality. The homebred son of Battalion Runner followed up a brilliant debut with dominating triumphs in the $100,000 Dr. Fager and the $200,000 Affirmed. The Michael Yates trainee registered the highest Beyer Speed Figure (99) produced by a 2-year-old this year while winning the Affirmed. Win N Your In, who captured the $200,000 Susan’s Girl last time out, and R Morning Brew, who won the $100,000 Desert Vixen, are scheduled to clash in the $300,000 My Dear Girl.

The 2024-2025 stakes scheduled will be kicked off by the $100,000 Wait a While, a 7 ½-furlong turf event for 2-year-old fillies, on opening day. The $100,000 Pulpit, a 7 ½-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds on turf, will headline Friday’s program.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will be back to defend their respective Championship Meet titles. Joseph, who saddled 66 winners last season, will seek his fourth consecutive Championship Meet title while also looking to win his 12th Gulfstream Park meet crown in a row. Ortiz, who rode 119 winners in 2023-2024, will seek his third Championship Meet title in a row.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who topped all trainers during the 2023-2024 Championship Meet with purse earnings of $3,460,666, will aim to top the purses-won standings for the fifth consecutive season. Pletcher-trained Fierceness, who won last season’s $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) by a record 13 ½ lengths, is a candidate for this year’s Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Thursday’s eight-race card will get underway at 11:15 a.m. and will be closed out at 2:40 p.m. with the running of the Wait a While.

Live racing will be conducted four days a week (Thursday-Sunday) through December and will be offered five days a week through March 30.

There will plenty of events at Gulfstream during the Championship Meet including the popular calendar giveaway Dec.6-7, Jockeys and Jeans Jan. 11, and Taste at the Track on Feb 1, March 1 and March 29.

Top Jockeys 2023-‘24

Irad Ortiz Jr. 119 wins (22% dirt, 22% turf)<br> Jose Ortiz 94 wins (21% dirt, 18% turf)<br> Paco Lopez 92 wins (23% dirt, 13% turf)<br> Luis Saez 70 wins (19% dirt, 12% turf)<br> Edgard Zayas 56 wins (12% dirt, 13% turf)

Top Trainers 2023-‘24

Saffie Joseph Jr. 66 wins (21% dirt, 19% turf)<br> Todd Pletcher 37 wins (21% dirt, 20% turf)<br> Mark Casse 31 wins (15% dirt, 17% turf)<br> Jose F. D’Angelo 26 wins (16% dirt, 9% turf)<br> Brian Lynch 22 wins (29% dirt, 21% turf)