Trainer Marty Drexler. (Ryan Thompson)
+ Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $250,000
+ Late Pick 5 Pool Tops $2 Million Friday, Returns $1,710
Gulfstream Today
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Coming off the best Championship Meet showing of his career last winter, Canada-based trainer Marty Drexler will look to get things rolling with C2 Racing Stable’s 4-year-old filly Literate in Sunday’s $100,000 Key West overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park.
Drexler ran his first starter of the 2024-2025 Championship Meet Friday, ex-professional hockey goaltender Randy Exelby’s 7-year-old Ontario-bred gelding Last American Exit, who ran fifth as the favorite in Race 4, a five-furlong claimer for 3-year-olds and up on the all-weather Tapeta.
Last winter, Drexler ranked sixth with 20 wins from 97 starters at the Championship Meet to go along with $739,410 in purse earnings. It marked his third straight year of improvement after going 11-for-64 ($319,000) in 2021-2022 and 14-for-66 ($454,650) in 2022-2023.
“This meet is funny sometimes. You really have to give them a little bit of time,” Drexler said. “I don’t usually run them this quick off the van. I just find that they need a little bit of time coming into the warm weather, and then the distances and stuff are a little tricky. But, yeah, we’re looking forward to a good meet. We had a good meet last year so hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Key West for fillies and mares 3 and older going 1 1/8 miles on the Tapeta will be the sixth start for Literate since Drexler took over her training following more than a year layoff. She owns three wins and a second this year, all on synthetics, and exits a popular 1 ¼-length triumph in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance Nov. 16 at Woodbine.
“She hasn’t done a thing wrong,” Drexler said. “She looks like a talented horse. Everything seems good with her, so we’ll take a shot at it. It’d be a good way to get things going. She been one of the better horses in my barn this year, so it’s nice to get her here early and see where we are.”
Literate drew Post 2 in a field of seven and will have five-time Championship Meet leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. up in the Key West, her Gulfstream debut. The field is led by 9-5 program favorite Sand and Sea (Post 7), a three-time winner on the South Florida synthetic including a pair of overnight handicaps last winter; and Maryquitecontrary, a Grade 2 winner on the Gulfstream dirt that dead-heated with Sand and Sea for second in the one-mile, 70-yard Daring Kathy Nov. 17, her Tapeta debut.
“She’s in good order. She seems like really good synthetic-type filly. Hopefully we can get something done in there,” Drexler said. “They’re all live in there. It seems like a very equally matched race. There’s no one superstar, but they all look like they’re OK. I think we’ve got a shot. We’ll see. We’ve got to get running here a little bit and figure it out from there. We’re glad to be back.”
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $250,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have an estimated pool of $250,000 when racing resumes Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The sequence spans Races 6-11 and opens with a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Unit Economics, trained by Chad Brown, is favored on the morning line from outermost Post 10 in his first start since an open allowance triumph going one mile Oct. 6 at Aqueduct. Calycanthus (Post 8) hasn’t raced since finishing ninth in the March 2 Mac Diarmida (G2).
Race 8 is the $115,000 Abundantia for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting five furlongs on the grass. Twirling Candy has lost just once in six starts this year with four stakes wins including the Senator Ken Maddy last out Nov. 1 at Del Mar at the same distance and surface.
Brown-trained Exact Estimate, first or second in eight of 10 starts but unraced since March 2; 20-time career winner Fly the W; and Jerry the Nipper, placed in nine career stakes including a third in the 2023 Fort Lauderdale (G2), top the $100,000 St. Augustine overnight handicap in Race 9.
Saturday’s feature comes in Race 10, the $165,000 Mr. Prospector (G3) for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs, where 2022 Florida Derby (G1) and 2023 Whitney (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner White Abarrio continues his comeback for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The 5-year-old winner of $5.2 million in purse earnings returned from 5 ½ months away to register a 10-length allowance romp at the distance Nov. 22.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is only 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.
Friday’s 50-cent Late Pick 5 saw its total pool top $2 million when $1,822,545 was wagered on top of a $217,084.36 carryover from Thursday’s program. Multiple tickets with the winning 4-1-8-7-6 combination returned $1,710.55.
Who’s Hot ~ ~ ~ ~
Championship Meet leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. won Friday aboard Oconee Life ($6.40) in Race 2 and Indeed ($5.20) in Race 7. Luca Panici also doubled with Nana’s Corn Muffin ($14.20) in Race 8 and Little Town Street ($18.40) in Race 10.
