The Florida Racing Season

January

Month 01 of 12

Foaling begins. The Gulfstream Championship Meet hits its mid-winter stride.

Racing

Gulfstream Park is mid-Championship Meet — the deepest stakes weeks of the year on dirt, turf, and Tapeta. Tampa Bay Downs is in the middle of its winter-into-spring meet.

Sales

OBS opens the year with a winter mixed sale. Yearling-buying season is months away; the focus is on 2YO sale prep for the spring.

In the Barn

Yearlings broken in the fall are now two — under-tack work picks up, gallops lengthen, breezes begin. Sale-bound 2YOs are pointing at the spring under-tack shows.

February

Month 02 of 12

Derby preps tune up. 2YO sale prep tightens.

Racing

Gulfstream Championship Meet continues with Kentucky Derby-trail preps building toward the Florida Derby. Tampa Bay Downs runs through with the Sam F. Davis Stakes as its first major Derby prep.

Sales

Sale-prep season at OBS: 2YOs train on the OBS oval and at farms across Marion County, building toward the spring under-tack shows.

In the Barn

Daily routine — gallop sets in the morning, a breeze every week or two. Trainers and consignors are watching every clocker note for sale horses.

March

Month 03 of 12

OBS Spring 2YOs in Training Sale — the biggest week of the year in Ocala.

Racing

Tampa Bay Derby weekend at Tampa Bay Downs. Gulfstream rolls toward the Florida Derby. The South Florida winter meet is at its peak.

Sales

OBS Spring Sale of two-year-olds in training — the largest 2YO sale in the world, preceded by an under-tack show where each horse breezes for buyers. This is the natural finish line for a well-executed pinhook.

In the Barn

Sale-bound 2YOs ship to OBS, breeze in front of clockers, vet, and go through the ring. The work of the last six months gets settled in two days.

April

Month 04 of 12

Florida Derby. Another OBS spring 2YO sale. Foaling finishes.

Racing

Florida Derby (Grade 1) at Gulfstream Park — a major Kentucky Derby points prep that draws the best three-year-olds in the country. Tampa Bay Downs runs out its meet.

Sales

OBS holds an additional 2YO in training sale in April, with its own under-tack show. Late foals from the spring foaling season hit the ground at farms across Marion County.

In the Barn

More sale shipping. Track-bound 2YOs are getting closer to debuts — gate schooling, longer breezes, official works on the books.

May

Month 05 of 12

Tampa wraps. Florida's national Triple Crown story plays out.

Racing

Tampa Bay Downs closes out its meet in early May. Gulfstream rolls on through its lighter post-Championship calendar. Florida's Derby prep winners feature on the national Triple Crown stage.

Sales

Quieter month at OBS — between the spring 2YO sales and the summer sale.

In the Barn

First-time starters from the spring 2YO crop begin hitting tracks across the country. Homebreds are entered for early summer maiden races.

June

Month 06 of 12

OBS Summer Sale of 2YOs in Training. Florida heat sets in.

Racing

Gulfstream continues its summer meet. Florida-based stables ship horses regionally for racing through the summer.

Sales

OBS Summer Sale of two-year-olds in training — the last of the major spring/summer 2YO auctions, preceded by an under-tack show.

In the Barn

Sale work tapers. Attention shifts to two-year-olds still pointed at the track, and to preparing for the yearling sales later in the fall.

July

Month 07 of 12

Summer racing in Florida; the national circuit heads to Saratoga.

Racing

Gulfstream Park anchors Florida summer racing. The national racing focus shifts north as Saratoga opens its meet in upstate New York.

Sales

Quiet sales month domestically. Consignors begin selecting and preparing yearlings for the big September sales.

In the Barn

Yearlings are walked, handled, and conditioned — long-lining, ground work, getting used to being away from the field. Calm groundwork now makes the fall breaking job easier.

August

Month 08 of 12

Yearling-sale prep dominates the farms.

Racing

Gulfstream Park runs through; Saratoga is the headline event nationally.

Sales

Consignors are deep into the daily routine of sales prep: walking yearlings, polishing manners, building the bodies that buyers will judge in September.

In the Barn

Sales prep on the farms; breaking barns are getting ready to receive the next crop. New stalls go up, equipment is checked, hands are hired.

September

Month 09 of 12

Yearling sales — the largest thoroughbred auctions of the year — kick off.

Racing

Gulfstream Park rolls on; Florida summer racing continues. The bigger national story is on the sales side.

Sales

The September yearling sales — Keeneland, Saratoga, Fasig-Tipton — are the largest thoroughbred auctions of the year. Most racehorses change hands here. Yearlings sold this month will be broken in the fall.

In the Barn

Buyers ship horses home from the September sales. The new crop of yearlings arrives at Ocala breaking barns over the following weeks.

October

Month 10 of 12

Breaking season begins in earnest in Ocala.

Racing

Gulfstream continues. Tampa Bay Downs typically opens its meet in late November, so trainers are tightening preparations.

Sales

OBS holds a major fall yearling sale — many of the yearlings that change hands here go straight into breaking barns nearby.

In the Barn

Breaking is the work of the month. New yearlings learn to accept tack, a saddle, and a rider, ridden first at the walk and trot, then progressively at the gallop. This is when ML Thoroughbreds is busiest.

November

Month 11 of 12

Tampa Bay Downs opens its winter meet. Breaking continues. Weanling sales.

Racing

Tampa Bay Downs opens its winter-into-spring meet, typically in late November. Gulfstream Park transitions toward its winter Championship Meet.

Sales

Weanling and breeding-stock mixed sales run nationally in November — the last big auction window of the year.

In the Barn

Yearlings that arrived in October are now under tack, walking and trotting in company, beginning their first gallops. The early breakers will be ready to step up in pace by year-end.

December

Month 12 of 12

Gulfstream Championship Meet opens. Yearlings finish breaking.

Racing

Gulfstream Park opens its winter Championship Meet — the deepest racing of the Florida year. Tampa Bay Downs runs alongside it.

Sales

OBS holds a winter mixed sale to close out the year. Foaling season for the next year's crop will begin in earnest in January.

In the Barn

Most yearlings broken in the fall have officially turned two on January 1 and will move into the conditioning phase. Sale horses begin pointing at the OBS spring sales.