Calder Casino & Race Course, which is gearing up to celebrate its 40th anniversary season, released its stakes schedules April 8 for this year’s Calder and Tropical meets. The South Florida track's 2011 season starts April 25. The 101-day Calder meet will run from then through Sept. 30 and the 45-day Tropical meet will run from Oct. 1 through Dec. 2.
The Calder meet will offer 34 stakes worth $3,550,000 and the Tropical meet will feature 21 stakes with purses totaling $2,675,000 for a combined stakes program worth $6,225,000.
The back-to-back meets will feature long-standing special stakes events such as the Summit of Speed (July 9), which includes the $350,000 Princess Rooney Handicap (gr. I); Juvenile Showcase (Aug. 27); Festival of the Sun (Oct. 15), which includes the finals of the Florida Stallion Stakes series; and Florida Million (Nov. 12). Also scheduled to be introduced are several new stakes for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds that were kept eligible for the 2010 Florida Stallion Stakes program.
