Florida Derby caps mandatory-payout Rainbow 6

Gulfstream Park will pay out the Rainbow 6 on Saturday in a sequence that begins with race 9, features four of the five graded stakes races on the card, and culminates with the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

The opening leg is the only non-stakes race in the sequence and also appears to be the race requiring the most coverage, with a well-matched field of 11 signed on to go a mile on turf and plenty of early speed in play.

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Many will play to get alive to Florida Derby favorite No. 7 Greatest Honour in the final leg, a strategy that is hard to argue with. Greatest Honour faces more 3-year-olds of potential on Saturday than he did in either his Holy Bull or Fountain of Youth victory, but his best races also appear to be in front of him and the added distance of this race only works to his advantage.

With expected heavy favorite Malathaat a no-show for race 12, the Gulfstream Park Oaks, No. 6 Millefeuille may be able to rebound from her disappointing effort in last month’s Davona Dale. Millefeuille did have an excuse that day while shuffled out of contention around the turn, and her second in the Demoiselle last December points her out as a player in this division heading into 2021.

Earlier in the sequence, No. 7 Moon Over Miami is an interesting alternative to more-accomplished rivals No. 1 Cross Border and No. 3 Sadler’s Joy in the Grade 2 Pan American. Moon Over Miami won the Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs last year as a 3-year-old and finished third in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida on Feb. 27 in his return from a layoff.

Race 11 is the Cutler Bay for 3-year-olds on turf, and it has a pair of logical favorites in No. 6 Annex and No. 8 Step Dancer. While I slightly prefer Annex, horses like No. 3 Whatmakessammyrun, whose form is dirtied up, and the underrated No. 7 It Can Be Done offer potential value.

Todd Pletcher has the horse to beat in the form of the streaking No. 9 Always Shopping in race 13, the Grade 3 Orchid. No. 5 Sorrel looms a potential danger shipping in following three straight wins to close her 3-year-old campaign in England, with all of those races coming at 1 1/2 miles or longer.