Royal Palm Meet

Edited Press Release Gulfstream Park's Royal Palm Meet will offer substantial increases in overnight purses as well as bonuses in open stakes and Florida-bred races and stakes as part of a $6-million Florida-Bred Incentive Fund (FBIF). Overall, the Royal Palm Meet, which runs through Aug. 30, will offer total stakes purses of $2.9 million plus an additional $575,000 ($25,000 per race) to any Florida-bred finishing in the top five in 23 summer stakes. The percentage of purse money for those top five Florida-breds will be 50%-30%-11%-6%-3%. On the heels of...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. edged Jose D'Angelo to earn leading trainer honors for the 13th consecutive race meeting at Gulfstream Park. The 38-year-old native of Barbados entered Sunday's closing day of the Royal Palm Meet with a one-win lead, 55-54, and clinched the title with 4-5 favorite Drama in the third race, following a victory with Genuine Gomo in the opener. Dandona, a $1.05-million OBS April purchase, gave Joseph his third winner on the day with a victory in the 10th race. Joseph finished with 58 winners and more than $1.9...

6th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 8-15, 2yo, f, 5f, :59.51, ft, 9 3/4 lengths. EPIGRAM (f, 2, Code of Honor--Rockin, by Hard Spun) ran her rivals off their feet to become her late freshman sire's third winner at 7-2 odds. Breaking in at the start but recovering well to lead the pack, they were never given a second opinion as she put up an opening quarter in :22.95 and was on a clear advantage entering the stretch. From there it was how much she wanted to win by and the answer was...

Lennilu (Leinster), who beat both Kadabra (Good Magic) and Chambourcin (Copper Bullet), both return winners in recent days, in her Apr. 6 Keeneland slop debut took another step forward in her stakes debut over this turf course. Partnered by Luis Saez, she bumped into Satisfied Mind (First Samurai) leaving the gate before forcing the pace in the early stages. The 4-5 favorite in a field of 11 took over from Satisfied Mind turning for home and readily kicked clear from the rallying debutante Bibi Dahl to prevail by 3 3/4...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. collected his 10th Gulfstream Park training title in a row, while Edgard Zayas regained the top spot in the jockey standings when the Royal Palm Meet concluded Sunday. Joseph broke his own Royal Palm Meet record with 93 victories, eclipsing the 71 winners he sent out during the 2021 stand. Zayas, who won the Royal Palm Meet title in 2020 and 2021, was third in the standings in 2022 and 2023. During this year's meet, he regained the top spot in the standings with 112 winners. Ken...

Leonel Reyes collected his first riding title in the U.S. and Saffie Joseph, Jr. captured his seventh consecutive training championship at Gulfstream Park when the Royal Palm Meet closed Sunday. Reyes rode more than 1,400 winners in Venezuela before moving his tack to South Florida in 2016. The 37-year-old riding veteran got off to a quick start for the meet that kicked off Apr. 4 and never looked back, finishing with 93 victories, 18 more than runner-up Edwin Gonzalez. "It's amazing. It's been a lot of hard work," Reyes said....

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA) will devote more than $2.2 million to support the Royal Palm Meeting at Gulfstream Park over the summer months. Of that amount, $1.4 million is earmarked for the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Series, $375,000 toward purse enhancements for Florida-breds and Florida Sire Stakes-eligible runners in stakes races and $250,000 in FTBOA Florida-bred Incentive Funds (FTBOA FBIF). "Florida-breds are so important to Gulfstream Park racing and these supplements certainly will make our stakes more attractive," Gulfstream Park vice president of racing Mike Lakow...