Florida Sire win sends Daring Kathy to Saratoga
David Fawkes already was sending Sheer Drama north, so making room on the van for Daring Kathy won’t be any problem. She stamped her ticket to Saratoga with an easy score Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the rich Florida Sire Stakes program yielded a number of notable performances.
Daring Kathy earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in leading throughout in the one-mile Soaring Softly and now will turn back in the Smart N Fancy at Saratoga on Aug. 28. That 5 1/2-furlong turf race comes a day after Sheer Drama will try to retain her title in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on the Travers Stakes undercard.
Fawkes said Daring Kathy, “is versatile. She’ll get to ride up with Sheer Drama.”
Meanwhile, the winners of the other four Saturday stakes will run back in their respective divisions of the next Florida Sire races Sept. 3 at Gulfstream.
Three Rules, trained by Jose Pinchin, and Cajun Delta Dawn, trained by Fawkes, both stayed unbeaten in three starts by winning $200,000 races for 2-year-olds: the Dr. Fager and Desert Vixen. Three Rules earned a 93 Beyer, the best on the day, while Cajun Delta Dawn got a 59.
The two $150,000 stakes for 3-year-olds both resulted in major upsets, most notably Dream of Me outrunning Awesome Banner, a 1-20 favorite, in the Unbridled. Dream of Me earned an 81 Beyer, while R Kinsley Doll, the winner of the filly counterpart, the Three Ring, earned a 78.
Awesome Banner is a Jacks or Better Farms homebred, as is Ballet Diva, who finished sixth at 1-2 in the Three Ring.
The third and final legs in the Florida Sire series are Oct. 1.
◗ After building for 21 racing days, the Rainbow 6 jackpot was emptied Saturday when a bettor at Remington Park in Oklahoma took down a windfall of $411,188 with the solo winning ticket. The winning ticket cost $2,160 (or 10,800 combinations of 20 cents), singling Three Rules in the Dr. Fager while using just two horses in the final leg, including the winner, Big City Heart.
Saturday’s handle into the Rainbow 6 was $116,686 in pursuit of a carryover of $317,841. Gulfstream did not reseed the Rainbow 6 for Sunday, and just $28,637 was wagered, resulting in a carryover of $6,871 for Thursday. First post for a 10-race card is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Rainbow 6 on races 5-10.
◗ All-sources handle for the 12-race Saturday card was $7.768 million, up 24 percent over the corresponding date last year, according to figures released by Gulfstream.
“It was a great program, and we had a packed house,” general manager P.J. Campo said.