Plus Live Local Horseracing


It’s a chance to bet like no other. Horseracing fans who can’t make the trip to Santa Anita will converge on Turf Paradise Friday November 4th and Saturday November 5st to watch and wager and win on the simulcast of the Breeders’ Cup.

Gate opening and times are as follows:

Friday: Gates Open: 9am. 1st Breeders’ Cup Race: 2:25pm. 1st Live Race: 12:55 pm. Breeders’ Cup Distafff is set for 4:35pm

Saturday: Gates Open: 9am; 1st Breeders’ Cup Race: 12:05pm. 1st Live Race: 11:30am. Breeders’ Cup Classic is set for 5:35pm

The two-day, 13-race Breeders’ Cup Championship, which will be contested at Santa Anita Park will be simulcast in its entirety at Turf Paradise and all 60 OTB (Off Track Betting) sites.

To mark the event, Turf Paradise will offer live local racing on Friday. In addition to live racing on Saturday, Turf is also offering all day buffets allowing fans to watch the Breeders’ Cup races in style while taking in a day of live and local horseracing.

The Breeders’ Cup all day buffet at the clubhouse is $29.00.  The Turf Club offers a more formal atmosphere for $38.00. Clubhouse Reservations: (602) 375-6470.  Turf Club Reservations: (602) 375-6472.
 
The show piece of the Breeders’ Cup races is the $6 million Classic at 1 ¼ miles.


Turf Paradise General Manager Vince Francia said, “It’s the best of both worlds. You can watch the simulcast and bet like no other on some of the nation’s top horses and you can watch, wager and win on the best local horseracing in Arizona.”
 
In addition to the Breeders’ Cup season also includes:

• Special Fiesta Sundays throughout the season featuring Mexican food and music
• A Thanksgiving Weekend Party
• 61st Anniversary Party featuring the $75,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile January 14th
• Super Saturday February 11th
• Wiener Dog Races March 11th
• Camel and Ostrich Races March 25th
• Kentucky Derby Party May 6th

 
Who: Turf Paradise
What: Breeders’ Cup Party
When: November 4th and 5th
Where: Turf Paradise 1501 West Bell Road
How Much: Grandstand admission is just $2
Clubhouse Buffet $29
Turf Club Buffet $38

On paper it would appear that each of the seven entrants in Saturday’s (Oct. 22) Princess of Palms Stakes at Turf Paradise has a chance of winning the $30,000 stakes.
 
Of course, there can be only one winner.
 
The 6-furlong Princess of Palms will go as the seventh race on an eight race card with post time at 12:55 pm
 
Three of the seven entrants will be making their Turf debut while the remaining four have local victories to their credit.
 
The First Timers
Among the first timers, the Robertino Diodoro-trained Star of Munster, shipping in from tougher southern California competition, will attract attention. The 3-year-old filly has finished fourth twice against older company. She has won three of nine efforts this year.
 
BCZ Middleton, also a 3-year-old with a won against older, comes in with a third place effort for trainer Jeff Metz at Oak Tree. She has won four of 19 efforts lifetime.
 
The Roddina Barrett-trained Dance With Effie comes off a front running victory in Prairie Meadows Mitnuma Falls Handicap. The 4-year-old has also won three races at Emerald Downs this year.
 
Those With Local Experience
Kera Kera has finished in the money in seven out eight local starts with four victories. The 4-year-old finished third in the $100,000 Donna Reed at Prairie Meadows.
 
The speedy Zenita has won three of six local efforts in allowance and high-priced claiming company. The daughter of Zensational turned in a bullet work of :59.4 for 5 furlongs on October 8.
 
Trainer Valorie Lund has double entrants in the front-running Makinmymark, a win at Turf and the late-closing 6-year-old Queen Kate who three local wins.

Defending champion Absolutely Cool heads a field of nine sprinters in the $30,000 Bienvenidos Stakes as Turf Paradise opens its 130-day meet Saturday.
 
The meet will run from October 15 thru May 7 with racing being conducted primarily on a five-day a week basis, Saturday thru Wednesday with first post at 12:55 pm.
 
However, the track will run an abbreviated three-day a week schedule – Saturday thru Monday the first two weekends of the meet. The five day a week schedule starts Saturday, October 29.
 
Also there are three Fridays when live racing will be conducted: November 4 (first day of Breeders’ Cup); November 25 (Thanksgiving weekend) and May 5 (Kentucky Oaks Day).
 
Returning
Among last meet’s Top 10 leading conditioners returning are:  three-time leading trainer Robertino Diodoro, Dan McFarlane, Valorie Lund, Molly Pearson and Kevin Eikleberry.  
 
Scott Stevens, who will be seeking his third consecutive leading jockey’s title and ninth overall, will be joined by Top 10 riders Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Andrew Ramgeet and Jake Barton.
 
The Bienvenidos 
Absolutely Cool, former Horse of the Meet and two-time Bienvenidos winner (2015 and 2013) comes off a month and half freshener to tackle a field of nine at 6 ½ furlongs. A winner of ten races locally, the 9-year-old continues to be the stalwart of the Lund barn.
 
Storm Power, who won this race in 2014 for Diodoro, looks to continue his summer sharpness that resulted in two stakes wins in Prairie Meadows’ Skinner Memorial and Canterbury’s HBPA Sprint championship.
 
The Jeff Metz-trained Kaabraaj, who failed to menace in three stakes efforts at Del Mar and Santa Anita, finds softer competition in the Bienvenidos.
 
Others scheduled to run in the Bienvenidos: Mike Man’s Gold, Don’t Hold Back, Back Alley Rally, Midnight Officer, Oh Newman and Fire the Trainer.

A study, recently released by economist Dr. Margaret Ray of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia found that Turf Paradise Race Course generates an annual economic impact of $91 million to the state of Arizona.


Since its establishment in 1956 as Arizona’s first sports franchise, Turf Paradise has continually been ranked among the state’s Top 5 sports attendance attractions. The racetrack draws horse racing enthusiasts from all across the United States, Canada and Mexico and has served as the center of the Arizona equine industry for more than 60 years.
 
It’s significant to note that the economic impact Ms. Ray’s report takes place within a 7 ½ month window, mid-October thru early May, which coincides with Turf Paradise’s live race meet. The report does not factor in the economic impact of Turf Paradise as a stand-alone tourist attraction.  The 2016-2017, 130-day live meet runs from October 15th through May 7th.
 
The study closely analyzes the direct, indirect, and induced economic impact of Turf Paradise’s activities in order to determine the total baseline economic impact in 2015. Direct economic impact includes expenditures made by Turf Paradise. Indirect economic impact consists of Turf Paradise’s direct impact expenditures in other business sectors of the local economy. Finally, induced economic impact is comprised of the amount of money spent by racetrack employees on goods and services in the region.
 
In addition to the $91 million annual impact of Turf Paradise to Arizona, the report also listed other major points of economic contribution in 2015:
 

• When in season, Turf Paradise provides employment for 1,040 workers in both racetrack and stable operations.

 

• More than 1,600 horses were housed at the racetrack during the October to May 2015 racing season, leading to operating expenses of nearly $18 million.

 

• Recent construction and renovation at the track contributed $1.5 million to the Arizona economy.

 

• Turf paradise paid $2.5 million in taxes in 2015.

 

• As a major sports attraction, in 2015 over 290,000 attendees walked through Turf Paradise’s gates to take part in on-site live horse racing and an additional 525,000 fans attended one of 65 Off Track Betting sites located throughout the state.

 

• Every $1 injected into the racing industry has a final economic impact of $2 on the Arizona economy.

 
Turf Paradise now hosts one of the longest seasons of thoroughbred racing in the United States and the racetrack’s races are simulcast to more than 2,000 locations in 40 different countries around the world.
 
“Turf Paradise is delighted to be a continuing and positive contributor to Arizona’s economic engine as well as its horse racing being ranked among the state’s top-tiered sports’ attendance attractions,” said Vincent Francia Turf Paradise General Manager.”
 
For more information on the study analyzing Turf Paradise’s economic impact, please contact Michael Scerbo at [email protected] or 602-615-6523.