Both Willy Boi and Drain the Clock left the Gulfstream Park gate at 4/5 for Saturday’s Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes, the first-among-equals undercard race to the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational on Gulfstream’s Summit of Speed program. And in this battle of chalk-vs.-chalk, Drain the Clock blinked first. Actually, […]
Tag: Florida horse racing
Ce Ce Returns to Princess Rooney Seeking Another Coronation
The Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational played a key role in Ce Ce’s coronation as Champion Female Sprinter last year. And the marquee race on Gulfstream Park’s Summit of Speed card provides the perfect setting for the versatile mare to defend her title. Saturday’s $300K Princess Rooney is a seven-furlong […]
Drain the Clock Running Toward Good Vibes at Smile Sprint
The Grade 3 Smile Sprint is a race Drain the Clock needs right about now. A nice, low-pressure graded stakes race that should allow him to rebuild his confidence in familiar surroundings. Those surroundings are Gulfstream Park, where the six-furlong Smile Sprint is one of the featured races on Gulfstream’s Summit […]
Saffie Joseph Jr. Snaps Pletcher’s String, Wins Gulfstream Training Title
The last time Todd Pletcher didn’t win a Gulfstream Park Championship Meet title, Saffie Joseph Jr. wasn’t old enough to drink. He was barely old enough to vote. But one day after Joseph sent White Abarrio to the Grade 1 Florida Derby title, the 35-year-old trainer captured the Gulfstream Championship […]
Florida Derby: The Springboard to Kentucky Derby Glory
Why the Florida Derby is a marquee race on the Kentucky Derby trail, Part the First: Six horses this century graduated from the Grade 1 flagship race at Gulfstream Park to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. The six: Monarchos (2001), Barbaro (2006), Big Brown (2008), Orb (2013), Nyquist (2016) and […]
Classic Causeway Helps Tampa Bay Downs Pull Record Handle
With Tampa Bay Derby winner Classic Causeway sweeping his way into the Kentucky Derby Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs destroyed its previous single-day record for total handle. Saturday’s total handle of $20,778,222 blew away last year’s previous mark by more than $5.5 million and by 36%. On the rare day that […]
This Week on the Derby Trail Stops at the Tampa Bay Derby
As Kentucky Derby preps go, Saturday’s Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby doesn’t exactly provide the fast track to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle. You can get there from Tampa Bay Downs – if it was 2007 and you were Street Sense, that year’s Tampa Bay Derby winner. Or if you […]
Challenger Reunites a Trio of Familiar Names on Comeback Trail
You may have missed it on Saturday’s Tampa Bay Downs card, but three familiar names return to the track for the Challenger Stakes. The $100,000 race is on the Tampa Bay Derby undercard. The 1 1/16-mile Challenger welcomes back Greatest Honour for the first time in nearly a year. It […]
All Eyes are on Emmanuel to Drink From This Fountain of Youth
Emmanuel is on many Kentucky Derby watch lists as one of the colts to watch in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Horseplayers watched him win his first two starts by a combined 11 ¼ lengths. They watched him get bet down to 18/1 in Circa Sports’ Derby futures and […]
The Sam F. Davis: A Derby Prep Where Also-Rans Matter
Tampa Bay Downs’ first stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes is one of those races where you’re best served paying more attention to the horses outside the winner’s circle. Take last year. Candy Man Rocket won the race in typical Davis fashion. He […]
Holy Bull! Mo Donegal, Giant Game, Tiz the Bomb Keys in Derby Prep
Dale Romans was talking about his horse, Giant Game. But he spoke for all his fellow trainers in Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull when he distilled the meaning of this Kentucky Derby prep. “Like we say every year, this is the time for the 2-year-olds to turn into men and grow […]
Colonel Liam Faces Tough Road to History in Pegasus Turf
Colonel Liam makes his bid for Gulfstream Park history from Post 6 as the slim 3/1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $1 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. Whether he can make it a successful bid depends on how the defending champion handles a 239-day layoff. The fourth edition of the Pegasus […]
Knicks Go, Life Is Good Make Pegasus World Cup a Two-Horse Race
A “happy, fresh, and full of himself” Knicks Go will defend his Pegasus World Cup Invitational title Saturday on the rail as the 6/5 morning-line favorite. That’s the result of Tuesday’s post-position draw for the $3 million Grade 1 event. The presumptive favorite to be named Horse of the Year […]
Can This Pegasus Trip Be What Belmont Champ Sir Winston Needs?
One trip abroad nearly cost Sir Winston his career. Another trip abroad saved it. And now, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner comes into Saturday’s $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational as a mature, fresh 6-year-old. His trainer, Mark Casse, thinks the son of Awesome Again could be awesome […]
One Bettor Cracks Gulfstream Park’s Rainbow 6 Puzzle for $1.2 Million
One lucky/sagacious – depending on your perspective – bettor solved Gulfstream Park’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 Friday for more than $1.2 million courtesy of one of the longest shots in the field: Canelo. The 4-year-old gelding was making only his second career start in Friday’s 10th race, coming off a Dec. […]
Consistent, but Rusty, Gelding Largent Returns for Tropical Turf
Largent comes into today’s Grade 3 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream Park with name recognition, not just from his namesake – Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent – but from his track deeds. He comes in never having missed the exacta in 10 career races. And he comes in with […]
Gulfstream Park’s Wednesday Pick 6 Jackpot Pool Hits $1.1 Million
Gulfstream Park has wasted little time in presenting horseplayers with the year’s first seven-figure betting opportunity, offering a $1.1 million gross jackpot pool on its 20-cent Rainbow Pick 6 for Wednesday’s nine-race card. Being a jackpot wager, the Rainbow Pick 6 is paid out when a bettor holds the lone […]
Strike Hard Gets His Opportunity To Do That In Mucho Macho Man Stakes
If Strike Hard runs the same mile time in Saturday’s Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park he ran in a Dec. 5 Gulfstream allowance, the Florida spur of the Kentucky Derby trail will have a new force. Strike Hard won that allowance by four lengths, covering the mile in […]
Make It Big Gives Trainer Joseph Kentucky Derby Trail Options
Make It Big did exactly that in Friday’s Springboard Mile at Remington Park, winning the Kentucky Derby prep by a half-length as the 6/5 favorite. More importantly, Make It Big gave trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. a new project for the new year: figuring out what’s next for his colt on […]
Fort Lauderdale Upset Winner Doswell Could Fly to Pegasus Turf
Last year, Doswell followed Largent across the Fort Lauderdale Stakes finish line, falling short in the Grade 2 prep for next month’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. But the 5-year-old Giant’s Causeway progeny went gate-to-wire Saturday, capturing the Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream Park. That puts the gelding on the radar […]