Gulfstream Park: $1.5M could be up for grabs in mandatory-payout Rainbow 6
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The last time Gulfstream Park had a mandatory Rainbow 6 payout was Oct. 11, when the wager offered a three-day carryover of a mere $25,324 and a final jackpot pool of $313,000. Barring the gimmick being correctly solved by a single player on either Friday or Saturday, horseplayers will have a substantially larger prize to play for here Sunday, with an 11-day carryover of more than $150,000 expected and a closing jackpot somewhere in the vicinity of $1.5 million by the time the final 20-cent ticket has been punched.
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence encompasses races 5-10, split equally between the main track and synthetic Tapeta course. The main event is the fourth and potentially most inscrutable leg, a $54,000 allowance/optional-claiming test for 3-year-olds that lured 11 starters going a mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta.
The following is a capsule look at Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence:
RACE 5: Sweet Agenda figures to be a single for many in the opening leg based her current form, although she has been a beaten 4-5 favorite in each of her last two starts. Those hoping she’ll burn the chalk again might look to Authentic Wave, the only multiple winner in the field at seven furlongs, or perhaps Fully Entitled, the lone five-time winner in the lineup who finished less than two lengths behind Sweet Agenda in their last meeting.
RACE 6: Lots of early speed in this one, which could help Full Nelson get back on track off a disappointing effort as the 3-5 favorite against the same kind last month. Dune Road also should relish a contested pace while putting blinkers on. The ultra-consistent Steelin Bases is probably a must-use after upsetting similar from off the pace three weeks earlier.
RACE 7: A pretty modest field of lower-lever maiden claimers going seven furlongs could help narrow this one down to just a couple of choices, starting with the class-dropping Modo Leyenda, who tries dirt and also dons blinkers for the first time. Kim Win Win, off a very promising near-bullet gate work at Palm Meadows, is in new and dangerous hands off the claim and could prove a bit of a sleeper for trainer Bernardo Lopez.
RACE 8: The main event features Hands of Time, who will take yet another class jump in quest of his fourth straight victory for trainer Heather Smullen. Hands of Time has made every call a winning one in each of his last three tallies, although he might not see the front end as readily in this spot with the rail-drawn Poseidon’s Law stretching out around two turns for the first time off a steady diet of sprint races. Additionally, the fresh Time Passes, exiting a key race when narrowly defeated in his most recent start April 24, is expected to come away running to secure early position from his outside post. The one must-use in this lineup is Longbranch Lou, who was overmatched in his last start, a key race Aug. 30 at Churchill Downs, and returns to his preferred surface and course Sunday. Those with bigger bankrolls will likely be tossing in four-time synthetic winner Junction Road as well.
RACE 9: Smullen comes right back with another key contender, the speedy Smoke an a Pancake, who looms dangerous off another improved showing last time and is the projected controlling speed in this spot. Delaware invader Eyes On the Ground, with Paco Lopez taking the call, fits here at his best as does Editor, another new face to the category, in the dangerous hands of trainer Carlos David for his local bow.
RACE 10: The majority of those fortunate to still be alive entering the finale are likely to be alive to the Jose D’Angelo-trained duo of Kokomo Kitty, off a near miss going a mile on dirt last time, and Sovereign Gold, who has been away since mid-June but also is proven around two turns. The lightly raced Necea figures to offer some value having been away nine months. She made a little mid-race run before flattening out late but still finished in front of six of her 11 rivals in a key race when debuting at Tampa Bay Downs in February, a maiden special weight test won by Kokomotion, who finished third in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in her subsequent try.
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