Very near the final hour, the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA) and Gulfstream Park have landed on a three-year live racing agreement, some details of which were shared in joint press releases issued Tuesday.
This agreement is a federal requirement for a racetrack to conduct live racing and simulcast its signal nationwide.
Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group (TSG), is statutorily required to conduct a minimum of 40-days live racing to operate its casino. Without a horsemen's agreement, Gulfstream Park would still have been able to conduct live racing–and presumably by extension, its casino–but it wouldn't have been able to export its signal out of state.
According to the FHBPA press release, the agreement is for three-years and provides for the following minimum live racing schedule, with flexibility to add more race days:
- No less than 180 live race days for calendar year 2026
- No less than 140 live race days for calendar year 2027
- No less than 120 live race days for calendar year 2028
This year, Gulfstream Park has carded 199 race days.
“These agreed upon days establish the minimum number of guaranteed racing days for the next three years, but leave open the opportunity for additional days to be added. In order to provide horsemen and women time to plan, the racing schedules will be set well in advance.
The schedule for 2027 racing will be finalized in March 2026, and the schedule for 2028 racing will be finalized no later than March 2027,” the FHBPA press release states.
According to Gulfstream Park's press release, the agreement reached reflects “a commitment of the parties to run as much live racing as possible provided average field sizes and the condition of the purse account remain commercially reasonable.”
“As always, our objective is to run as much as we can,” wrote Aidan Butler, CEO of TSG's 1/ST Racing. “The reality is that the industry is changing and this framework is focused on providing a quality racing product rooted in economic reality giving horsemen and women, fans, our employees and the industry greater clarity and stability.”
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Florida horsemen did not agree to provide a financial “backstop” to support the track's operational budget, as was reportedly demanded by Gulfstream Park's corporate leadership.
Gulfstream Park already receives considerable financial support from the state.
Earlier this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a budget package that included $15 million annually for purses and facility maintenance for Gulfstream Park alone. The track also gets $6 million from the state to be used as purses and purses supplements specifically for Florida-bred and sired horses, and is exempt from having to pay its $2 million annual slot machine licensing fee.
In their respective press releases, both organizations allude to the fragile nature of the relationship between Gulfstream Park's corporate owners and the state racing industry's stakeholders, as well as to the long-term future of racing in Florida.
Efforts by Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to decouple the live racing requirement to operate their respective casino and card rooms were ultimately thwarted in the state legislature.
In August, Gulfstream Park filed a lawsuit suing the Florida Gaming Control Commission over the decoupling requirement. The commission subsequently asked the Florida state court to dismiss the lawsuit.
A new decoupling bill was introduced last week, meaning the fight will spill over into the latest legislative session in Tallahassee.
“While the Agreement guarantees racing through 2028, it does not state that racing will end at that time or prohibit an extension or new agreement. With this level of stability secured, the FHBPA will continue to look for opportunities to enhance racing in the short-term and explore solutions for the long-term future of racing in South Florida,” the FHPBA stated in their press release.
FHBPA president Tom Cannell added: “There are many unknowns in the world today, especially in horse racing; I am so proud of the work of your Board of Directors and their tenacity to fight to provide some clarity to our membership over the next three years.”
In Gulfstream Park's press release, Butler wrote, “this proposal is grounded in good-faith collaboration with the FHBPA and an understanding that together we must work toward a new model for racing in Florida that is operationally sound, financially responsible and aligned with the long-term interests of racing in the state.”
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