Gulfstream's Championship Meet kicked off Saturday with a record handle of $11.925 million for the 19th running of the Claiming Crown, which they have been hosting since 2012. This was a 7% increase from last year's handle of $11.141 million.
“We're extremely pleased with the opening day of our Championship Meet and the Claiming Crown program,” said Gulfstream General Manager Bill Badgett. “The crowd was fantastic, the support from horsemen throughout North America was once again terrific, and we witnessed some incredible performances from our equine and human stars. During the Championship Meet it's one big event after another, and we're preparing for an historic event next weekend in the Clasico Internacional del Caribe. We can't wait to play host to our friends in Latin America and the Caribbean with an incredible program of racing featuring 11 stakes races.”
The Jorge Navarro-trained Flowers for Lisa (Flower Alley) sprung a 16-1 upset in the day's feature race, the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel. Navarro also captured Saturday's GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct with Sharp Azteca (Freud).
“Jorge told me the day he claimed him that this was our Claiming Crown horse,” owner Jason Provenzano said. “This is a dream for me. The phone hasn't stopped. I got in this game a long time ago. My father was a jockey years ago, he rode down at Bowie, Timonium, Pimlico, Marlboro, tracks that don't even exist anymore, some of them. I fell in love with horses at a young age but I never thought I'd have the money to own them. I got in a good position in my life and we started claiming horses.”
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