Co-features bookend the Rainbow 6

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Florida-breds will be in the spotlight Friday at Gulfstream Park with a pair of restricted allowance races headlining the 10-race program. The fifth race is for older fillies and mares on the turf, the final race on the card is for 3-year-olds at six furlongs on the main track. Both offer a purse of $59,000.

A solid case can be made for at least six of the 10 fillies and mares who will go 1 1/16 miles on the grass in the first leg of the Rainbow 6. The group includes the Saffie Joseph Jr. pair of Beach Party Bingo and Beach Ready, Peace Seeker, Hay Hay Paula, Fish Mooney, and Lucky Peridot.

It will be no day at the beach for either of the Joseph duo even though they enter in peak form. Beach Party Bingo finished a game and narrowly beaten third under similar conditions over the Tapeta strip in her most recent start. Beach Ready was second, less than a length behind Winter Princess, in a mid-level optional-claiming and allowance test going a mile on the turf.

Peace Seeker will be facing statebreds for the first time since finishing a distant 10th after pressing the pace in the Distaff Turf at Tampa Bay Downs nearly a year ago. She is far and away the winningest member of this field on grass, having posted four of her five lifetime tallies on turf.

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Hay Hay Paula is a synthetic specialist who comes into the co-feature in peak form. She won three races in a row before being beaten a neck by statebreds over the Tapeta strip to close her 2023 campaign. Hay Hay Paula was haltered out of that race for $20,000 by her present connections, who will retain the services of regular rider Miguel Vasquez.

Fish Mooney returns locally for the first time since finishing third under mid-level optional-claiming conditions here in July. She exits a late-running half-length victory against similarly conditioned opposition over the synthetic track at Woodbine in her most recent start Nov. 18. Following that race, she was given a brief freshening on the farm in Ocala by trainer Mark Casse. Having Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time will add to her appeal.

Lucky Peridot was re-claimed by trainer Jose D’Angelo out of her last start, a disappointing sixth-place finish as the 8-5 favorite over the main track Dec. 22. She wastes little time getting back to the turf while also putting blinkers back on for the first time in her last 13 outings.

In the finale, Roar Ready, Sound of the Beast, and Holiday Pay should vie for favoritism under first-level allowance conditions.

Roar Ready has improved with each successive start and exits a popular and one-sided allowance win against statebreds going seven panels in his juvenile finale on Nov. 11. Roar Ready has trained forwardly for his return with a résumé that includes a bullet 46.60-second half-mile drill here Jan. 6.

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Sound of the Beast is back with Florida-breds after finishing a tiring sixth in Tampa Bay Downs Inaugural Stakes to complete a 2-year-old campaign during which he won once in five starts and finished second to the Holy Bull-bound Squints in the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Sprint on Nov. 11. He also is training extremely well coming into this race.

Holiday Pay finished third under similar conditions in his last start while hung out wide most of the way behind runaway winner Hades. That followed a game maiden win in his only previous try against Florida-breds seven weeks earlier.

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