October 10, 2014

Statement by Gulfstream Park President Tim Ritvo on Resolving Simulcast Wagering Issues

Gulfstream Park management was made aware of a unique situation that made it difficult the past two days for some bettors at simulcast facilities around North America to wager on races at Gulfstream Park West.

After working aggressively to solve the issue, we can say today the problem has been corrected.

We want to sincerely apologize to our bettors for any inconvenience this has caused. Gulfstream Park prides itself on customer service and doing all we can for our bettors and guests. We are extremely disappointed and frustrated that this issue occurred during the opening days of our Fall Turf Festival. This has been especially frustrating because our racing office has worked hard in giving the public great field sizes and competitive races.

We hate letting our fans down. They are the economic engine of this sport.

This situation was due to source codes and a mandate by the state that we offer multiple performances, or events, during a single program while at Gulfstream Park West. For instance, races one and two are Event No. 1 while races three through 10 are Event No. 2. Gulfstream was directed to run 100 programs at Gulfstream Park West during the 44-day meet due to a previous dates filing by Calder. We can assure you this will never happen again since we are the only entity filing for dates at Gulfstream Park West in the future.

We would also like to address the fact that some publications have reported the takeout at Gulfstream Park West incorrectly. The takeout at Gulfstream Park West is the same as Gulfstream Park, which is the 10th lowest in the country. Some publications reported our takeout to be the same as Calder, which was 45th in the country. We firmly believe lower takeout rates increase handle and promote quality racing.

Once again, we want to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We will learn from this experience, improve our customer service every day, and our racing office will continue to offer full fields and competitive races. We hope you enjoy the next seven weeks of racing at Gulfstream Park West