Gulfstream Park racing through the year
Gulfstream Park racing never stops for a season. The calendar divides into the Championship Meet from late November to March, the Royal Palm Meet through spring and summer, and a fall program, in 2026 called the Sunshine Meet. In mid-October the track runs Friday through Sunday with a 12:20 p.m. first post.
| Meet | Months | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Championship Meet | Late November to March | Pegasus World Cup, Florida Derby preps, biggest fields |
| Royal Palm Meet | Spring and summer | Smaller fields, regular weekend cards |
| Fall meet | October and November | Friday to Sunday racing |
Three courses share the infield: a 1 1/8-mile dirt oval with a backstretch chute for one-turn miles, a seven-furlong turf course, and a Tapeta course of one mile and 70 yards added in 2021. In July 2025 the state commission recorded about $1.8 million in on-track live handle at the only Florida slot track still racing.
The Pegasus World Cup and Florida Derby
The Pegasus World Cup Invitational, first run on January 28, 2017, is a Grade 1 race at 1 1/8 miles for horses four and older. Its first purse of $12 million made it the world’s richest race in 2017 and 2018. Since 2020 the race has banned all race-day medication, and recent editions have carried $3 million.
The Florida Derby, first run in 1952, is the track’s main Kentucky Derby prep. The 75th running in March 2026 was worth $1 million on a 14-race card. Commandment won by a nose for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat, a year after Tappan Street had given Cox the same race. The 76th edition follows in late March 2027.
Past Florida Derby winners include Thunder Gulch, Monarchos and Barbaro, all of whom went on to win at Churchill Downs. The track also hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 1989, 1992 and 1999. The national horse racing schedule lists the other big winter meets, from Oaklawn Park to the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
Inside the Gulfstream Park casino
The Gulfstream Park casino is a two-level floor of slots and electronic table games. Machines include Dragon Link, Lightning Link, Planet Moolah and Dancing Drums, and the electronic tables offer blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps and big six. Florida’s commission counted an average of 545 slot machines in August 2026, from a facility that opened its slots on November 15, 2006.
Level 2 runs from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and stays open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays; Level 1 opens 11 a.m. to midnight Friday to Sunday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays. The Champions Club loyalty program has four tiers. Anyone playing can set a spending cap before the first spin.
The floor’s July and August 2026 net slot revenue came to about $9.4 million, of which roughly $3.2 million was due to the state. That makes Gulfstream one of the smaller slot rooms among South Florida’s eight pari-mutuel casinos, a list covered on the Florida racinos page. Live-dealer blackjack is not offered at any of them.
Dining and the Village at Gulfstream Park
Ten Palms is the trackside restaurant, open Friday to Sunday from 11:30 a.m. until the last race, where diners can wager from their seats. Texas de Brazil and Alma Chef Steakhouse and Grill cover fine dining, while the casino has Tito’s Raw Bar, Silks Provisions and Derby Grill for quicker meals between races.
The Village at Gulfstream Park opened on February 4, 2010, on a former parking lot in front of the casino, and adds shops such as Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, West Elm and The Container Store. The 110-foot bronze statue of Pegasus slaying a dragon, finished in December 2014, stands between the shopping streets and the track.
Getting to Hallandale Beach
The track is at 901 South Federal Highway, U.S. 1, in Hallandale Beach, just north of the Miami-Dade county line. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International is the closest airport, followed by Miami International and Palm Beach International. There is no hotel on site, but the track lists partner rates at nearby resorts, including one in Aventura.
Gulfstream is the only stop in Florida for a combined racing and slots day, since every other casino at a pari-mutuel there has stopped running live races. Visitors touring racinos further afield can compare it with the Louisiana racinos or the New York tracks, and the what is a racino guide explains why Florida’s other casino tracks no longer race.
From the Donn family to 1/ST
Gulfstream Park opened on February 1, 1939, with a four-day meeting that drew 18,000 people, then closed until James Donn Sr. reopened it in December 1944. The Donn family ran the track for decades. Magna Entertainment bought it in 1999, and a $130 million rebuild of the grandstand and clubhouse began in 2004.
Slot machines followed in 2006 after Broward County voters approved them, though some regulars felt the new building put the casino ahead of the racing. The Stronach Group has owned the track since July 2011 and now operates it under its 1/ST brand. The history of racinos places that change in the national story.