Audible in the Florida Derby. (Gulfstream Park photo)
> G3 Smile Winner Dean Delivers Auditions for Breeders’ Cup
>> Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $225,000
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Audible, who captured the 2018 Florida Derby (G1) and Holy Bull (G2) for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, is represented in a strong field of 2-year-old maidens in Friday’s Race 2 at Gulfstream Park.
Tami Bobo’s Reminder, a $185,000 purchase at the 2023 OBS April sale for 2-year-olds in training, is scheduled to make his debut in the 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight event on Tapeta. Out of the War Chant mare, Mom’s Deputy, the Florida-bred son of Audible sports a sharp half-mile breeze on Tapeta on a solid worktab for trainer Jose D’Angelo, who is also scheduled to saddle The Honeyman, a debuting son of Summer Front for ProRacing Stable LLC.
“Reminder loves the Tapeta,” D’Angelo said. “He was training OK [at Palm Meadows] and I said, “Maybe he likes Tapeta.’ I brought him to Gulfstream. His stride was beautiful on Tapeta, that’s why I’m running him on Tapeta first time.”
Leading rider Leonel Reyes has the call on Reminder, who is rated third at 7-2 on the morning line, while Miguel Vasquez has the mount aboard The Honeyman, who is listed at 6-1.
Reminder and The Honeyman will concede experience to Peachtree Stable’s Full Nelson and Arindel’s Jigsaw, who are rated at 5-2 and 3-1, respectively, on the morning line.
Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Full Nelson, a homebred son of Lord Nelson, raced evenly to finish fourth as the favorite in his debut at five furlongs on the main track.
“I would have liked to start him on grass, but his works were OK out of the gate, so we decided to run him on the dirt,” said Joseph, who named Edgard Zayas to ride Full Nelson. “With no grass here right now, that’s why we’re going on Tapeta. His sister, Lady Hamilton, she’s run well on grass and Tapeta, so tomorrow he should run well.”
Juan Alvarado-trained Jigsaw will bring two-race experience into Friday’s race, having finished third in both of his start over the main track. Hector Diaz Jr. is scheduled to ride the homebred son of Brethren for the first time.
First-crop sire Yoshida is represented in the field by Yutaka Enterprises Corp.’s Okiro, trained by Jose Garoffalo, and Robert Contran’s Karaoke, conditioned by Joe Orseno. Fly with Me and Tami Bobo’s Improptude, a son of Khozan trained by Antonio Sano, and Howard and Janet Siegel’s Beautiful Janet, a Bob Hess Jr.-trained daughter of Far From Over, are also scheduled to make their respective debuts.
G3 Smile Winner Dean Delivers Auditions for Breeders’ Cup
Stonehedge LLC’s Dean Delivers, who is coming off a dominating 2 ¼-length score in the July 1 Smile Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream Park, is entered to run in Saturday’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) at Saratoga.
“He deserves the opportunity to give the Grade 1 level a try. There aren’t to many three-quarters races to run in. We wanted to give him the opportunity to see if he can be competitive with that class of a field before deciding if we want to entertain going to the Breeders’ Cup or not,” trainer Michael Yates said.
Dean Delivers is rated third at 8-1 on the morning line behind Elite (4-5) and Gunite (8-5).
The Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), scheduled for Nov. 4 at Santa Anita, the Vanderbilt and the Smile Sprint are all contested at six furlongs.
Emisael Jaramillo, who rode Dean Delivers in his Smile Sprint victory, has the return call on the 4-year-old gelding.
Dean Delivers has run 15 of his 16 career starts at Gulfstream with 13 in-the-money finishes while campaigning primarily in stakes. Multiple graded stakes-placed at seven furlongs and a mile, the son of Cajun Breeze broke through with his first graded-stakes victory in the six-furlong Smile Sprint.
“We had been concentrating on getting him to relax and letting the race develop because every race in front of us was seven-eighths or a mile out of the chute,” Yates said. “I think shortening him back to six furlongs got him to show his true talent.”
Yates owned and campaigned Dean Delivers’ sire, Cajun Breeze, a hard-knocking horse who earned nearly $250,000 in five years of running in allowance and stakes company. Yates took a giant leap of faith by standing the son of Congrats at stud. Cajun Breeze was an instant success and was subsequently brought to Stonehedge Farm.
“It’s very rewarding. You grow up around horses your whole life. Some of them are special. Some of them you think are special the rest of the world doesn’t feel that way,” Yates said. “You just know they are different. Some of them are more special than the majority of horses. He was one of those horses.”
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $225,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed at $225.000 for Friday’s program at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager went unsolved Sunday for the 10th racing day following a mandatory payout.
The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 3-8, featuring a 5 ½-furlong starter allowance for fillies and mares on Tapeta in Race 7. Trainer Rohan Crichton is represented by a pair of in-form 3-year-old fillies – Fortune Belle, the 8-5 morning-line favorite who came up a half-length short of registering a front-running victory at this level last time out, and No Action, who graduated on Tapeta last time out after several close calls. Antonio Sano-trained stakes-placed Vai Bella, by far the most accomplished of the seven fillies in the field, is rated second at 7-2.
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.
