Romagna Mia in a work at Fair Hill for trainer Graham. (Maggie Kimmitt)
+ Sequence Will Be Graced by Four Stakes
+ Rainbow 6 Hit Friday for $324,724
• Sibelius to Make Title Defense in G3 Mr. Prospector
• Emerging Star Romagna Mia Breezes for Tuesday’s Via Borghese
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 pool will be held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the sequence for the popular multi-race wager will be graced by four stakes races and a $100,000 gross jackpot pool guarantee.
The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 6-11, including the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks, $125,000 Sugar Swirl (G3), $125,000 Mr. Prospector (G3) and $125,000 Tropical Park Derby in Races 8-11.
The Rainbow 6 was solved Friday with a single winning ticket in New Jersey that returned $324,724.16.
A mile turf event for $25,000 claimers will kick off Saturday’s Rainbow 6 sequence in Race 6. Michael Maker-trained Emboite is rated as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a field on nine non-winners of two lifetime. The son of No Nay Never, who finished second against better on Tapeta last time out, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.
A mile race for $6250 claimers in Race 7 drew a field of eight headed by English Bob, the 7-5 morning-line favorite coming off a victory at the same level from which he was claimed by Jose D’Angelo.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will be represented by Cairo Consort and Alpha Bella, who finished 1-2 in last season’s Sweetest Chant (G3) at Gulfstream in the Tropical Park Oaks in Race 8. The 1 1/16-mile turf stakes will also feature the Chad Brown-trained duo of Implicated and Startup Mentality, who finished 1-3 last time out in the Pebbles (G3) at Aqueduct.
An evenly matched field of eight fillies and mares has been assembled for the Sugar Swirl, a six-furlong dash carded as Race 9. Intrepid Dream will bring a four-race winning streak in the Mid-Atlantic into the race while making her first start for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Many bettors will opt to ‘spread’ in this race.
Sibelius, who used a victory in last year’s Mr. Prospector as a steppingstone to a triumph in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1), will defend his title in Race 10.
Shug McGaughey-trained Ohana Honor, a late-developing colt who is coming off a runner-up finish in the Gio Ponti at Aqueduct, is a slight 3-1 morning-line favorite in a field of 12 (plus two also-eligibles) for the Tropical Park Derby in Race 11. Brian Lynch-trained Anglophile, who won the Dueling Grounds Derby (G3) at Kentucky Downs, and Jose D’Angelo-trained Amstrong, a four-time stakes winner on Tapeta, are among horses that will draw support from the bettors.
Emerging Star Romagna Mia Breezes for Tuesday’s Via Borghese
Grade 1 stakes-placed Romagna Mia breezed three-eighths of a mile at Palm Meadows Friday morning in preparation for a start in Tuesday’s $125,000 Via Borghese at Gulfstream Park.
Team Valor International LLC’s 4-year-old English-bred filly was timed in 39.95 over the turf course at Gulfstream’s satellite training facility for her highly anticipated start in the Via Borghese, a 1 3/8-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares.
“She’s been doing great,” said trainer Graham Motion, whose Via Borghese favorite has produced a strong string of five workouts at Palm Meadows for her Gulfstream debut.
Romagna Mia is coming off a three-length romp in the Oct. 22 Dowager (G3) at Keeneland in her second U.S. start. The daughter of Mastercraftsman finished third in the Beverly D (G1) at Colonial Downs in her first start in this country.
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Picking Up Pennies went gate-to-wire under jockey Edgard Zayas to win Friday’s seventh race, an allowance optional claimer at a mile on the main track. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Picking Up Pennies, a 5-year-old son of First Dude, covered the distance in 1:36.54 and finished 1 ½ lengths in front of Black Belt. Favored Grade 2 winner Dynamic One, making his first start since September of 2022, was bumped leaving the gate and broke last and raced wide, finishing fifth in the seven-horse field.
