Fulmini, Kartano should get nice setup in allowance
A couple of capable 3-year-olds with stakes experience will line up alongside each other as likely favorites in the only allowance on an 11-race Sunday card at Gulfstream Park.
Fulmini and Kartano, both based at Palm Meadows, will break closest to the rail following the expected scratch of Big Thorn from the fifth race, a $52,000 first-level allowance at a mile on turf. Both are stretch-running types who stand to benefit from all the opposing speed to their outside, most notably Exchange Day and Todaystheday, both stretching out from a series of five-furlong races.
Fulmini, a Florida-bred colt by Overdriven, has three wins from 12 starts, half of which have come in stakes. Kartano, a Kentucky-bred gelding by Tamarkuz, finished well ahead of Fulmini in his lone stakes attempt, the May 8 English Channel over the Gulfstream turf, before running second as the odds-on favorite in his lone subsequent try June 26.
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No rain is in the Sunday forecast for South Florida, meaning all six turf events (all the odd-numbered races) most likely will go as scheduled. The defection of Big Thorn, a main-track-only designate, will leave no more than six 3-year-olds in the feature, which directly precedes a Rainbow 6 sequence (races 6-11) starting with a brand new jackpot. The 20-cent Rainbow 6 was expected to attract millions of dollars in new handle when subject to a mandatory payout Saturday.
First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern. Full-card televised action is available on TVG.
After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark until another three-day week starts Friday. The track is maintaining the reduced schedule as a partial renovation of the turf course and the installation of a new Tapeta course continues.
The highlight next weekend is the $75,000 Azalea, a seven-furlong race on Saturday. Competitive Speed, winner of a July 10 overnight handicap for trainer Javier Gonzalez, is most notable among the 12 3-year-old fillies nominated.
Bill Hickey changes his focus
Bill Hickey, who had trained year-round in Florida since 2016, has been working at the Palm Beach Equine Clinic since disbanding his stable in January. Hickey won higher-end races with horses such as Silver Bay, Sarasota County, and The Virginian before going “on hiatus,” as he described it Friday.
Hickey, 39, said the death last October of his primary client, Dick Pollard of Richlyn Farm, and the eventual closure of stabling at Gulfstream West were factors that led him to quit training for the time being. He has 47 career wins.