Stronach Group Chairman and President Belinda Stronach, daughter of founder Frank Stronach, announced the company is reviewing plans that would keep the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Stronach said the company is seeking partners to help develop land around the racetrack, improve the grandstand and construct a hotel. “The race has to be great. You know, horseracing and wagering is at our core. But let’s put a great event around it, a great entertainment experience that can appeal to a much broader demographic. We can show them an amazing, fun day at the races,” Stronach said.
She noted this year’s Pegasus attracted major stars including Ludacris, Pharrell and Lenny Kravitz, proving the South Florida racetrack has the potential to allow people to enjoy the races along with “a real social experience.” However, observers speculated the Stronach Group could move Pegasus to its larger Santa Anita Park facility since Gulfstream’s grandstand is relatively small, among other issues.
Stronach said, “To expand the capacity of this track, our current thinking is to put a hotel adjacent to the grandstand. We’d probably have to refurbish the grandstand a bit. We could put a hotel next door where there are platforms that we can use on a periodic basis to expand the footprint that we have here at the track.” She added, “We’re also simultaneously undergoing a review process of all the development on the surrounding land and doing a master plan.”
Stronach said she believes horseracing “is the last great legacy sporting platform that has yet to be modernized. I truly believe that. This industry needs to embrace technology, too, and really get at the forefront of it.” She added said she expects an app to come online before this year’s Preakness Stakes at the Stronach-owned Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
“Unfortunately we didn’t have it finished in time for the Pegasus, but it will incorporate the mindset of fantasy or the ‘gameification’ of horseracing in an app. If you’re a hard-core handicapper, that’s one thing, this is your life, but if you’re somebody that’s interested in it, it allows you to get in and out of it in five minutes,” Stronach said. She noted the technology can enhance the on-track experience and “we can still maintain the heritage aspects of it that also are attractive to this sport.”
Stronach believes horseracing can attract new fans and recover from decreasing interest and attendance. “At the Stronach Group, we’re in a fortunate position where we continue to gain strength within the industry. But that industry is shrinking. So unless we try new things, to reach out to a new demographic and a new fan base, the future isn’t as promising as we would like it to be,” she said.
