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Trainer Kathleen O’Connell is honored as winningest female trainer in Thoroughbred history by the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Associationand 1/ST Racing. (Coglianese Photo)
• Cyclone Mischief Back on Worktab for G1 Florida Derby
• Dubyuhnell Pointed to April 1 Triple Crown Prep
• Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $500,000
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.— Trainer Kathleen O’Connell was honored by the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and 1/ST Racing Saturday afternoon at Gulfstream Park.
O’Connell, who has been a force among Florida trainers since the mid-1980s, recently became the winningest female trainer in Thoroughbred history.
O’Connell, who saddled her first winner at Detroit Race Course in 1981, surpassed Midwest trainer Kim Hammond when she notched win No. 2386 March 12 at Tampa Bay Downs.
In Gulfstream’s winner’s circle ceremony, the widely respected O’Connell was surrounded by her stable team, fellow South Florida trainers, friends, and track employees.
“That’s because I’ve been around here for a long time,” O’Connell quipped. “The camaraderie of the backside is a good place and I’ve enjoyed the ride.”.
She has saddled winners at 23 different tracks, 332 of them at Gulfstream.
“When you think about how many years it has taken, it’s a lifetime, a lifetime achievement,” O’Connell said. “I think what I like the most about my team, my help and my owners is that they’re in it for the longevity, and they have been in it for the longevity.
Kathleen O’Connell’s career hasn’t only been about numbers. It has been about quality, as well.
She saddled Blazing Sword for multiple graded-stakes victories, including the 1997 Calder Derby (G3), the 2000 Widener Handicap (G3) at Gulfstream and the Washington Park Handicap (G2) at Arlington Park, during a career in which the Gil Campbell homebred earned more than $1 million. O’Connell also achieved graded-stakes success with Campbell’s Ivanavinalot, who captured the 2003 Bonnie Miss (G2) at Gulfstream.
O’Connell also trained exceptional turf sprinter Lady Shipman during her 3-year-old campaign in 2015 that included six stakes victories and culminated with a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1), in which she was defeated by Mongolian Saturday by a neck at Keeneland.
She sent out Stormy Embrace for back-to-back victories in the Princess Rooney (G2) on the 2018 and 2019 Summit of Speed programs at Gulfstream. O’Connell also trained graded-stakes winners Well Defined, Watch Me Go and Fly By Phil.
Cyclone Mischief Back on Worktab for G1 Florida Derby
Albaugh Family Stable LLC and Castleton Lyons’ Cyclone Mischief returned to the Gulfstream Park worktab Saturday morning for the first time since finishing a vastly improved third in the March 4 Fountain of Youth (G2).
The Dale Romans- trained son of Into Mischief breezed four furlongs in 48.47 seconds, the 16th fastest clocking of 134 recorded at the distance, in preparation for a start in the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) April 1 at Gulfstream.
Cyclone Mischief scored an extremely impressive optional claiming allowance victory Jan. 8 at Gulfstream, running a mile in 1:36.49 while drawing away by 5 ¾ lengths. He came back with a disappointing dull seventh-place finish in the Feb. 4 Holy Bull (G3) at the 6-5 favorite.
The Romans trained bounced back with a strong effort in the Fountain of Youth, in which he set the pace to lead in mid-stretch before coming up short to finish third behind Forte and Rocket Can.
Trainer Danny Gargan confirmed that West Paces Racing LLC and Stonestreet Stable LLC’s Dubyuhnell is being pointed to the Florida Derby following a strong 48.45 half-mile breeze Saturday at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. Dubyuhnell, who turned in the third-fastest clocking of 60 recorded at the distance, captured the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct in his juvenile season finale before disappointing with a troubled eighth-place finish in the Feb. 11 Sam Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs,
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $500,000
Gulfstream Park’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 went unsolved Saturday for the ninth racing day following a March 5 mandatory payout, The popular multi-race wager’s gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $500,000 on Sunday’s program.
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 5-10, featuring an $86,000 optional claiming allowance for older horses scheduled for five-furlongs on turf. Barry Croft-trained Hope in Him will be seeking to rebound from a narrow loss while making only his second start on turf. The 4-year-old son of Chitu was riding a four-race winning streak on Tapeta heading into the race.
Jonathan Thomas-trained High Front, who captured his debut by 6 ½ lengths in a five-furlong turf sprint last year at Gulfstream, is scheduled to make his 2023 debut and return to Gulfstream.
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.
Who’s Hot
Tyler Gaffalione got off to a fast start Saturday, capturing the first two races on Warp Speed Baby ($18) in Race 1 and Vigil Anna ($8.60) in Race 2, before scoring aboard Strong Embrace ($4) in Race 6.
