Ice Tea continues to roll for Eppler
Mary Eppler wouldn’t dare say aloud that Ice Tea might be her next Page McKenney, but you couldn’t blame her for hoping.
Eppler was in Florida over the weekend to watch Ice Tea win Sunday for the third straight time in four starts since she claimed the 5-year-old gelding for owner Sean Dobbs of Flying Pheasant Farm. Ice Tea now has earned Beyer Speed Figures of 89, 100, and 96 following a 7 1/2-length romp in a Sunday allowance at Gulfstream Park.
“He’s healthy now,” Eppler said Monday from her Wellington, Fla., home. “He’s done everything we’ve asked of him so far.”
Ice Tea, a Florida-bred by Adios Charlie, was claimed for $16,000 at Laurel Park in December 2017. He had one race for Eppler before being turned out.
“He was pretty ouchy,” said Eppler, whose primary year-round base is Pimlico in Maryland. “He had a crack in his knee. He didn’t need surgery, just time.”
In a training career dating to 1980, Eppler has made numerous successful claims. Easily the most noteworthy was Page McKenney, who retired last August at age 8 with more than $1.9 million in earnings. Eppler claimed him for $16,000 in July 2013.
Eppler said she “won’t get too ambitious yet” with Ice Tea, one of four horses she has stabled at the Palm Meadows training center. The $100,000 Benny the Bull, a seven-furlong race for Florida-breds on Aug. 24 at Gulfstream, is the likely next target, she said.
“We’ll just take this little by little and see where he takes us,” Eppler said. “Hopefully, everything keeps going forward with him.”
Rainbow 6 nears $250,000
The Rainbow 6 jackpot at Gulfstream stands at $245,975 for Thursday after failing to be swept by a solo winning ticket again Sunday. The last time the Rainbow 6 jackpot was emptied was July 6.
A $47,000 turf sprint for Florida-bred fillies and mares (race 8) is the lone allowance on a 10-race card that starts at 1:15 p.m. Eastern. The 20-cent Rainbow 6 spans races 5-10.
◗ The highlight of the coming weekend at Gulfstream is the $75,000 Added Elegance, a seven-furlong race for fillies and mares on Saturday. Entries will be drawn Wednesday.
The next six-figure stakes are the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $100,000 Desert Vixen, both to be run Aug. 3 as the first legs in the annual Florida Sire Stakes series.
◗ Gunnevera, the most accomplished horse based year-round on the Florida circuit, was sent through his first breeze in more than a month when going a half-mile in 48 seconds Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park West. Trainer Antonio Sano is pointing the 5-year-old horse to the Aug. 31 Woodward at Saratoga after being forced to skip the upcoming Whitney because of a minor foot bruise.