Clash of Derby contenders, $2.3 million Rainbow 6 jackpot brighten Wednesday card

Future plans for Kentucky Derby hopefuls Sole Volante, Ete Indien, and Shivaree should come into sharper focus after the trio of highly regarded 3-year-olds square off at a mile in Wednesday’s $55,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race is the penultimate leg of a Rainbow 6 sequence that offers a guaranteed jackpot of $2.3 million. First post for the 10-race card is noon.

Sole Volante and Ete Indien are ranked seventh and ninth, respectively, in Daily Racing Form’s latest Derby Watch. Shivaree is not listed in the Derby Watch top 20 but is 12th in qualifying points for the Derby with the 40 he earned for his second-place finish behind Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

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Most of the attention Wednesday will likely be riveted on Sole Volante, the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, with trainer Patrick Biancone considering wheeling him back in just 10 days in the Belmont Stakes on June 20. Another option for Sole Volante is to run back in the July 11 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Sole Volante will be reunited Wednesday with regular rider Luca Panici, who guided him to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa but lost out on the mount in the Tampa Bay Derby because he was injured. Sole Volante has had five works since the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7, including four furlongs in 49.00 seconds over the main track at Palm Meadows on Sunday morning.

“Both he and Ete Indien were supposed to have a major work last Wednesday, but it was postponed due to the weather,” Biancone said. “They both took it easy when there was no racing around the country for a while, but now I need to give them a race. I have to see how [Sole Volante] runs first, but if he runs good and can bounce back quickly, we’ll go for the Belmont. If it looks like he’ll need more time, we will wait for the Blue Grass. That will give us five weeks.”

Ete Indien has been idle since finishing third, less than a length behind Shivaree, after contesting the pace in the Florida Derby on March 28. Four weeks earlier, Ete Indien cruised to a wire-to-wire 8 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. He also was second behind Tiz the Law when launching his 3-year-old campaign in the Grade 3 Holy Bull on Feb. 1 at Gulfstream.

Ete Indien has had six works since the Florida Derby, including four furlongs in 48 seconds on Sunday at Palm Meadows. He will race with blinkers for the first time Wednesday, with Florent Geroux flying in from Kentucky for the riding assignment.

“He’s had the blinkers on in his last few works and it seems to relax him better in the morning,” Biancone explained when asked about the equipment change.

Ete Indien might run next in the Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth, Biancone said.

Biancone said he likes the fact Ete Indien and Sole Volante’s running styles complement one another for this race.

“Ete Indien is a front-runner, Sole Volante comes from behind, so they should not disturb each other,” Biancone said.

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Shivaree was given a brief freshening after his big effort at odds of 80-1 in the Florida Derby, with five works, all at Gulfstream Park, coming into Wednesday’s main event, including a three-furlong blowout in 36.23 on Sunday.

“It’s a good spot to get a race into him and should set him up nicely for one of the big races in July,” said trainer Ralph Nicks, who is considering the Haskell or Blue Grass for Shivaree’s next start if all goes well Wednesday.

Aside from the three Derby contenders, the main event also lured stakes winners With Verve (Hutcheson) and Soros (Smooth Air), along with outsiders Jesus’ Team and Hard Lighting.

Biancone will go into Wednesday’s race on a bit of a high after sending out Kelsey’s Cross to capture Saturday’s $100,000 Ginger Punch Stakes under Panici. Kelsey’s Cross, who had kept a steady diet of graded stakes company before dropping back in with Florida-breds for the first time since her maiden victory more than a year earlier, finished full of run down the center of the course to win by 2 1/2 lengths over the pacesetting Crown and Sugar.

“She might not be a champion, but she is a nice, strong, hard-trying filly who we like very much,” Biancone said. “And Luca rode her very well. We won’t be in a rush to run her back, but there’s nothing really around here for her so she will probably have to travel for her next start.”