Guns Loaded trying to regain form; mandatory payout in Rainbow 6
:quality(75))
Since entering trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s barn in June, the 4-year-old colt Guns Loaded has continued clawing his way back into high-level competition in Florida. He will try to improve again in the seventh race on Monday, a $71,000 allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt.
“The horse had good form in him and lost his way a bit,” Joseph said. “I thought his last race was in the right direction, and hopefully he can build off that. If he does build off that, he could be very competitive.”
The seventh race will be the penultimate leg in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which will offer a mandatory payout for the fourth of eight consecutive Monday programs this summer. Last Monday’s Rainbow 6 brought in a $432,000 pool, slightly down from the $527,000 pool on July 20.
Because there are only eight races on Monday, Gulfstream’s new $1 Place Pick 8 wager will require bettors to pick the first or second finisher in every race on the card. Last Monday, the wager featured a $17,847 pool and paid $3,560.80.
Monday’s featured race is not the most challenging for multi-race bettors to parse through, but it may require them to spread in the short field of six. Guns Loaded is one of several contenders coming out of stakes company with a live chance.
Since winning the $150,000 Mucho Macho Man in January 2025, the Gun Runner colt has displayed erratic form in six starts, struggling to string races together without a layoff. He left Jose D’Angelo’s barn after a distant allowance defeat in May. Joseph mentioned that he had a tieback procedure under his previous connections, which required time off to recover.
“The tieback was always going to compromise him a bit, as far as getting back to his true ability,” Joseph said.
In his first start for Joseph, the $100,000 Smile Sprint on July 4, Guns Loaded seemed a little more like his old self, failing to run down the runaway winner Viking but finishing a game fourth. He earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure, his best since a second-level allowance victory at Churchill Downs last September.
Classic of Course, the runner-up in the Smile Sprint, could rematch with Guns Loaded for trainer Patrick Biancone. He is cross-entered in a $70,000 Black Diamond Cat overnight handicap on Saturday.
Though he is still looking for his first win in 2026, the Florida-bred has been remarkably consistent in stakes company on dirt, finishing fourth or better in four straight starts.
“My wife calls him the ATM,” Biancone said. “Every time he runs, he brings a check.”
Pure Class, a 5-year-old gelding trained by David Fawkes, has won two of his last three starts and finished third by a neck in the $75,000 Big Drama on June 6. He finished just ahead of Classic of Course that day, and if his Biancone-trained rival runs in the handicap on Saturday, he would become the clear horse to beat on Monday.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.