Gulfstream Park has set the dates for its 2026 to 2027 Championship Meet, and the biggest one to circle is Saturday, Jan. 30, when the 11th Pegasus World Cup Invitational is run on the dirt off U.S. 1 in Hallandale Beach. The track's newly released stakes schedule lays out 66 stakes races, 27 of them graded, from Thanksgiving Day into late March.

The season opens on Thanksgiving

The Championship Meet begins Thursday, Nov. 26, Thanksgiving Day, with two $100,000 turf races for 2-year-olds: the Wait a While for fillies and the Pulpit, both at 7 1/2 furlongs. That makes a Thanksgiving afternoon at the track an easy plan before dinner, with stakes racing on the card from day one.

Two days later, on Saturday, Nov. 28, the card includes a $200,000 stake named for the city itself. The Hallandale Beach is a one-mile dirt race for 2-year-old fillies, paired the same day with the $200,000 Aventura for 2-year-olds. If you live here, that is the day to bring a friend from out of town and point at the tote board.

Pegasus Day: Jan. 30

The Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, both Grade 1 and presented by EquiTrack, headline a 10 stakes card on Jan. 30. A third invitational, the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf (Grade 2), runs the same day. Gulfstream says the purses for all three are still being finalized and will be announced soon, so the dollar figures that usually draw the headlines are not out yet.

What is already clear is the pedigree of the race. The track lists past Pegasus starters and winners including Arrogate, the inaugural 2017 winner, two time Horse of the Year California Chrome, Horses of the Year Gun Runner, Knicks Go and Bricks and Mortar, and Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. Six of the 10 Pegasus Invitational winners so far have also won Breeders' Cup races. The turf version has drawn horses from Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom, South America and South Africa. In other words, the best horse you will ever see in person may well be running a few blocks from Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

The undercard is deep too: the $200,000 Inside Information (Grade 2) for fillies and mares, the $200,000 W.L. McKnight (Grade 3) on the turf at 1 1/2 miles, and the Fred Hooper (Grade 3) at a mile. Pegasus Preview Day on Dec. 26 sets up the main event with the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (Grade 3) and the $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (Grade 3).

The road to the Kentucky Derby runs through Hallandale Beach

Gulfstream's 3-year-old series is the other reason the track calls itself the winter capital of racing. It starts with the $250,000 Holy Bull (Grade 3) on Jan. 23, continues with the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (Grade 2) on Feb. 27, and ends with the 76th running of the $1 million EquiTrack Florida Derby (Grade 1) on Saturday, March 27. According to the track, the Florida Derby has produced four of the last 11 Kentucky Derby winners and 26 in all.

Those three Saturdays are each built as full days. Holy Bull Day has five stakes worth a combined $850,000, Fountain of Youth Day has nine stakes worth $1.8 million, and Florida Derby Day has 10 stakes worth $2.45 million, including the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (Grade 2) and the $150,000 Ghostzapper (Grade 3). Fillies get their own path toward the Kentucky Oaks with the Forward Gal on Jan. 23, the Davona Dale on Feb. 27 and the Gulfstream Park Oaks on Florida Derby Day.

Other dates worth saving

  • Dec. 12: the $125,000 Tropical Park Derby and Tropical Park Oaks on the turf.
  • Jan. 1 and 2: a New Year's pair with the Rampart, the Abundantia and the $150,000 Mr. Prospector (Grade 3).
  • Feb. 13: the $150,000 Royal Delta (Grade 3) for fillies and mares.
  • March 6: the $150,000 Hurricane Bertie (Grade 3).
  • March 20: two quick turf sprints for 3-year-olds, the Texas Glitter and the Melody of Colors.

Before then: racing is already running

You do not have to wait for Thanksgiving. Gulfstream's events calendar shows live racing Friday through Sunday through October, and stakes return on Oct. 30 and 31 with four $100,000 turf races, the Cellars Shiraz, Our Dear Peggy, Armed Forces and Showing Up, plus Breeders' Cup viewing in Ten Palms on both days.

What it means if you live here

Most cities would build a weekend around one of these days. Hallandale Beach gets a full winter of them at a track on its own stretch of Federal Highway, with the Pegasus card drawing horses shipped in from as far away as Japan and South Africa. Put Nov. 26, Nov. 28, Jan. 30 and March 27 on the calendar now, and watch for Gulfstream's Pegasus purse announcement in the coming weeks.