Edited Gulfstream Release – Racing on the newly constructed Tapeta track at Gulfstream Park has been pushed back for approximately a week due to an unexpected delay in the delivery of the inner rail, which is currently held up in U.S. Customs in Miami after being shipped from the United Kingdom.
Racing on the all-weather surface had been scheduled to get under way next Thursday.
When the rail is delivered and installed, Gulfstream Park will be the first track to offer racing on dirt, turf and all-weather surfaces.
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $200,000
Saturday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $200,000 at Gulfstream Park.
The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the third racing day since Saturday’s mandatory payout that produced multiple payoffs of $313,299.84
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 7-12, including the $75,000 Our Dear Peggy in Race 9 and the $60,000 City of West Park in Race 10.
Patrick Biancone-trained Diamond Wow, an impressive debut winner, is the 2-1 morning favorite for her stakes debut in the Our Dear Peggy, a mile turf stakes for juvenile fillies. The daughter of Lookin At Lucky is out of a half-sister to the Biancone-trained Diamond Oops, a multiple graded-stakes winner on turf and dirt.
Antonio Sano-trained Papetu, a runner-up in the off-the-turf Bear’s Den last time out, tops a well-balanced seven-horse field for the City of West Park, a seven-furlong overnight handicap for 3-year-olds.
Earlier on the program, the $75,000 Armed Forces attracted a field of lightly experienced 2-year-olds. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Eldon’s Prince, who graduated while winning the Proud Man last time out, is rated as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the mile turf stakes carded as Race 5.
Scar Upsets Eye of a Jedi in Friday’s Feature
Trainer Steve Budhoo’s Eye of a Jedi, idle since capturing the March 27 Ghostzapper (G3) by five lengths at Gulfstream, came up short in deep stretch to finish second behind late-charging Dig That Mine LLC and trainer Steve Klesaris’ Scar in Friday’s Race 5 feature.
Ridden by Cristian Torres, Scar ($30.20) ran a mile in 1:36.64 over a sealed sloppy track to win by 1 ½ lengths. Eye of a Jedi, the 4-5 favorite ridden by Leonel Reyes, finished 7 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Cool Arrow in the mile optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up.
Jockeys Edgard Zayas and Miguel Vasquez, who were unseated from their mounts during the running of the race, escaped injury. Zayas’ mount, Squeezadios, who fell suddenly while the setting the pace on the backstretch, was euthanized. Glory of Florida escaped injury while finishing the race riderless.
Earlier on the twilight program, Teneri Farms Inc. and J Stables LLC’s Opalina graduated in style, scoring by 12 lengths in a mile maiden special weight race on turf for juvenile fillies. The Roderick Rodriguez-trained daughter of Optimizer, who had finished a late-closing second in her first two career starts at five-furlongs on turf, obviously relished the added distance in Friday’s Race 2.
In Friday’s third race, a mile $12,500 claiming race for fillies and mares, Pretty Rachel won her fifth straight race. The 3-year-old daughter of Dominus, who was making her first start for trainer Armando De La Cerda, has won for three different trainers during her streak. Marcos Meneses has been aboard for all five wins.
