Gulfstream Park Selections by John M. Gaver III: Saturday, December 9, 2017
Inclement weather may dampen the racing conditions, but Mother Nature won’t thwart the excitement on Saturday, December 9 at Gulfstream Park, as the South Florida oval becomes the first racetrack outside Latin America and the Caribbean to play host to the prestigious Clasico Internacional del Caribe in the event’s 51-year history.
The 2017 renewal of the Clasico Internacional has $600,000 in purse money up for grabs in a five-race sequence that assimilates equine standouts from six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The $300,000 Clasico del Caribe Stakes for three-year-olds, a race that has attracted Puerto Rican Triple Crown winner Justiciero, is the jewel of the quintet.
The beefy 11-race program on Saturday at Gulfstream also has six $75,000 black type affairs for the juveniles. Post time for the opener is an earlier than usual 11:50 A.M. Eastern.
The Green Sheet had three winners on Friday’s 10-race program at Gulfstream and five days into the 2017-18 Championship tilt in Hallandale Beach, The Sheet is hitting at a 31 percent strike rate; its top selections have finished in the money 71 percent of the time.
For FREE, annotated selections for the Saturday, December 9 Clasico del Caribe program at Gulfstream Park, click HERE.
Header image: “Jockeys,” by Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917). Pastel on paper, 1886