Seminole Chief and Paco Lopez head to the winner’s circle after victory in the FSS In Reality FTBOA . (Ryan Thompson)
Change of Command Makes Successful Two-Turn Debut Friday
+ Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $150,000
+ Sequence Highlighted by Trio of Stakes for 3-Year-Olds
Gulfstream Today
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Brad Grady and David Grund’s Seminole Chief breezed five furlongs Friday morning at Palm Meadows Training Center in preparing for a planned start in the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park.
The 3-year-old son of Girvin was timed in 1:01.90 at Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County after working for the first time since capturing the $300,000 Florida Sire Stakes In Reality Dec. 2 at Gulfstream.
“He went really well. We backed off a little bit after he won the In Reality and this was his first work back,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “We’ll gradually pick it up each week.”
Sisterson acknowledged the challenge Seminole Chief faces in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, which is likely to attracted Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Fierceness, a son of City of Light trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.
Seminole Chief broke his maiden at first asking at Finger Lakes before encountering a troubled trip in a sixth-place finish in the seven-furlong FSS Affirmed Oct. 21 at Gulfstream Park. The Florida-bred colt came back to shake off heavy pressure to prevail by a half-length in the 1 1/16-mile In Reality in his first start around two turns.
Change of Command Makes Successful Two-Turn Debut Friday
Courtlandt Farms’ Change of Command, a $1.05 million yearling stretching out to two turns off a dynamic maiden win 19 days earlier, turned back a stubborn Cardinale on the rail and edged clear to win Race 7 Friday.
Racing over the same track for the first time in six starts, Change of Command ($4.20) covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.55 over a fast main track in the entry-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds.
Change of Command broke sharply but was outrun to the lead from Post 1 by Stonestreet Stables homebred Cardinale, in front through fractions of 23.91 and 47.57 seconds. After stalking for a half-mile, Jose Ortiz and Change of Command took over the top spot midway around the far turn and had to dig in again when Cardinale came back to challenge.
“When that horse came back to him, he kind of went on from there,” Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said. “As you saw around the turn, it looked like he was going to win by himself, and he did that the last time a little bit. He didn’t want to finish as well as I’d like. I’ve got to do some work to figure things out. I hope this moves him forward. He had to kind of belly down and run, so that should help him. We’ll take him back to Payson [Park] and find out.”
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $150,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $150,000 Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 6-11, highlighted by the $125,000 Ginger Brew in Race 9, $100,000 Limehouse in Race 10, and $125,000 Palm Beach in Race 11.
Christophe Clement-trained Ozara (IRE), who captured the Dec. 9 Wait a While, returns in the Ginger Brew, a mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Jorge Delgado-trained Valiant Force, a Group 2 winner in Europe who finished a close second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) in his U.S. debut, tries dirt for the first time in the Limehouse, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds. Todd Pletcher-trained Agate Road, who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) after winning the Pilgrim (G2), is the morning-line favorite for the Palm Beach, a mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.
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.
The three stakes will also be included in Saturday’s return of the 1/ST Coast-to-Coast Pick 5, which will also include Races 5 and 7 at Santa Anita.
~ ~ ~ Who’s Hot ~ ~ ~
Jockey Paco Lopez registered a hat trick aboard Marthamaywhovier ($16.40) in Race 6, Kanthari ($10.20) in Race 8 and Roan ($4.60) in the Race 9 finale …
Two-time defending Championship Meet titlist Saffie Joseph Jr. saddled a pair of winners, Blueish ($12.60) in Race 2 and Rough Start ($10.40) in Race 5.
