Irad Ortiz Jr. guided White Abarrio to victory in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. (Jenny Doyle/ Past The Wire)
Sequence Includes Returns of White Abarrio, Irad Ortiz Jr.
Rainbow 6 Jackpot Carryover Expected to Reach $225,000
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The return of Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner White Abarrio and five-time Eclipse Award champion Irad Ortiz Jr. and a carryover of $64,847.53 spice up a 50-cent Late Pick 5 sequence to kick off closing weekend of the Sunshine Meet Friday at Gulfstream Park.
Nobody selected all five winners on the last live program Sunday, resulting in a carryover for the popular multi-race wager that begins in Race 5, an entry-level optional claiming allowance for Florida-bred fillies and mares 3 and up going one mile and 70 yards on the all-weather Tapeta course.
Favored at 6-5 on the morning line is the 4-year-old Jess’s Dream filly Rachels Song, who exits a rallying 1 ¼-length open allowance victory Nov. 2 for her third win in four tries on the Gulfstream Tapeta. Victory Badge will be trying the local synthetic for the first time afer running third in a turf allowance Oct. 24 at Laurel Park.
Race 6 is a seven-furlong claimer for 3-year-olds and up which have never won two races led by Lace Up, a sophomore son of The Big Beast racing second off a $25,000 claim by trainer Carlos David, having run third in a similar spot Oct. 27. It is the third of six scheduled mounts for Ortiz, the Championship Meet’s leading rider five of the last six years including each of the last two.
C2 Racing Stable, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Anthony Pagnano’s White Abarrio is the 1-5 program favorite in Race 7, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs. It will be the first start for the 5-year-old since running fifth in the June 8 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Saratoga and first since being reunited with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., for whom he won Gulfstream’s 2022 Florida Derby (G1).
White Abarrio drew Post 2 in a field of five and will be ridden by Ortiz, who was also aboard for victories in the 2023 Whitney (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Joseph also entered C2 Racing Stable’s Mish, a nine-time winner from 31 career starts including a Florida-bred sprint stakes March 24 at Tampa Bay Downs.
After five straight starts in graded-stakes highlighted by a popular nose victory in the March 2 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), Steal Sunshine takes a class drop in Race 8, a one-mile optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up. It will be the 5-year-old’s first race since finishing fifth in the June 29 Stephen Foster (G1). Argentinian Group 1 winner Super Corinto is also racing for the first time since mid-June and returns to Gulfstream, where he won a similar spot going 1 1/16 miles in December 2022.
The Late Pick 5 concludes with the Race 9 finale, an optional claiming allowance for Florida-bred 3-year-olds and up going one mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta. Hot Blooded, unraced since finishing fourth by a length in a mid-August turf allowance at Colonial Downs, was entered for a $20,000 tag by trainer Mike Maker. Honesto will be making his 29th start on the Gulfstream Tapeta, where he owns four wins, nine seconds and five thirds.
Hosts Samantha Perry and Brian Nadeau handicap the Late Pick 5:
All five races are part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 wager which is expected to see its jackpot pool grow to $225,000 having gone unsolved for 10 consecutive racing days following multiple mandatory payouts of $40,299.22 Oct. 26.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 begins in Race 4, a six-furlong maiden claiming sprint for 2-year-old fillies where Mitole’s Baby Girl is entered to make her debut for Joseph with Ortiz aboard off a steady string of works since mid-August at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. Joseph will also send out first-time starter Executive Success.
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.
Joseph will finish Gulfstream’s Sunshine Meet as its leading trainer, with a 37-20 win lead over runner-up Jose D’Angelo heading into the final weekend. It will be the 11th consecutive title at Gulfstream for Joseph including each of the past three Championship Meets.
The race for leading jockey may go down to Sunday’s closing day program, with Edwin Gonzalez holding a 33-31 advantage over defending champion Edgard Zayas. Miguel Vasquez is right behind in third with 30 wins.
