Gulfstream Park Among Historic Horse Racing Firsts and Achievements
By Space Coast Daily // July 26, 2021
Hallandale Beach in Florida is the site of the Gulfstream Park racetrack. Historically, in January 2018, the course was host to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, which broke records as the richest horse race anywhere on the planet when it was declared that there’d be a total prize purse of $16,000,000.
If ever there was an incentive to keep older thoroughbred flats, who ran over a mile or middle-distances in training at their barns, then this was it. However, this particular sport is renowned for breaking records with and eyeing up possibilities for expansion over the years. Here are some other groundbreaking and notable examples.
Most Consecutive Days Racing – Galway Festival
We must hop across the pond to the other side of the Atlantic, to the poetic greens of the Emerald Isle, for another great horse racing first. Galway is in Western Ireland and also something of a cultural hotspot away from the track at Ballybrit outside the city. Big races include the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle with the former contested over a marathon distance of extended two-and-three-quarter miles (4,778 meters).
Bookmakers and punters alike must strategize when placing their deliberate Galway Races betting odds as a variety of factors are prone to affect the overall performances of the steeds over the course of the festival.
Lest we forget that the Galway Races are notable for the fact that their participants have to be invested in the long haul, as the meet lasts a whole week! That’s right, seven consecutive days of horse racing action are held every summer with the itinerary consisting of a special mix of flat and jumps races, which platform equine stars at the front and center.
Most Valuable Prize Purse – Saudi Cup
The Pegasus World Cup Invitational and its status as the richest race in the world was short-lived. While that’s a shame for sport in Florida, it came about because of a decision to split the total purse into separate dirt and turf races with the creation of the Pegasus World Cup Turf Stakes in 2019.
Now, the most valuable prize in horse racing takes place in the Middle East state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards the end of February. While the Pegasus World Cup was created as a stepping stone from the Breeders’ Cup to the Dubai World Cup, this gives thoroughbred racehorses the chance to run again before descending on Meydan in March.
Now worth a massive $20,000,000, the Saudi Cup over a mile-and-a-furlong (1,800 meters) wasn’t even won by a dirt specialist horse in 2021. The first prize went to Mishriff, a horse trained in the British horse racing hub of Newmarket by John Gosden and his son Thady for owner Prince Abdul Rahman al Faisal.
Longest Thoroughbred Horse Race – Grand National
Near to the English port city of Liverpool is Aintree Racecourse, home of the world’s most famous steeplechase and longest thoroughbred horse race, the Grand National. Like the Galway Plate, it is run as a handicap but over an extreme distance of four miles and 514 yards in imperial measures. That is almost 7 kilometers in length.
The scary thing about the Grand National is that it used to be even longer. Until the last decade, the official distance of the race was four-and-a-half miles or 7,240 meters. Horses must complete two circuits of the track at Aintree, tackling 30 spruce-covered fences of different heights. The legend Red Rum famously won the Grand National a record three times in the 1970s.
Florida is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to horse racing achievements. This is a truly global sport, touching many cultures and civilizations.
