Gulfstream Park’s 2024-25 championship meet ended abruptly when Sunday’s closing day program was cancelled because of severe weather that hit the track before the sixth of 12 scheduled races.
Powerful thunderstorms swept through Broward County, Fla., producing lightning and heavy rain and causing a brief power outage. After a lengthy delay and with storms forecast to last into the evening, the decision was made to cancel.
A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool, which was slated for Sunday’s program, will be rescheduled. There was a carryover of $288,488.31 from Florida Derby day Saturday with expectations for the pool to reach $3 million Sunday.
The cancellation was announced in a text message to horsemen at 4 p.m. EDT, a little more than an hour after signs of things to come. That was the decision at 2:47 p.m. EDT to move the remaining turf races to the synthetic course.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Gulfstream with the opening of the spring-summer meet which runs through Aug. 31. Post time for the first of eight races is 12:50 p.m. EDT.
