Gulfstream Park, which opens its 66th season of live racing on January 3, will offer a revised stakes schedule that includes a purse cut for the Florida Derby (G1).

The purse for the Florida Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race for three-year-olds scheduled for March 28, will be $750,000. The Florida Derby, which serves as a prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), had featured a $1-million purse since 2001.

“The changing economics, along with our traditional commitment to Florida’s horsemen, demand that we take this step,” said Bill Murphy, Gulfstream’s president and general manager.

Other stakes for Kentucky Derby hopefuls include the $150,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3), a 1 1/8-mile race on January 31, and the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) on February 28.

Last year’s edition of the Holy Bull was contested in mid-April at 1 3/16 miles. The Fountain of Youth has been shortened from 1 1/8 miles to one mile.

Forty-eight stakes races will be contested during the meet, 42 of which will feature purses of $100,000 or more.

“Gulfstream Park earned its lofty reputation through years of top-class racing, and my chief concern was to put together a program that would assure fans and horsemen that those same high standards would remain intact,” said Doug Bredar, Gulfstream’s racing secretary. “Consultations with the country’s leading horsemen, as well as the wealth of knowledge and expertise offered by my colleagues here, led me to believe that this schedule will provide us with large fields with the same top-quality racing.”

The sixth edition of the Sunshine Millions, which includes eight stakes races for Florida- and California-breds worth a combined $3.6-million, will be held at Gulfstream and Santa Anita Park on January 24.

The distance also was changed for two additional graded stakes races. The $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) on March 14 has been changed from 1 3/16 miles to one mile. The $250,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (G1) on February 1 has been changed from 1 3/8 miles to 1 1/8 miles.