My Sassenach and Cajun’s Magic won their stakes debuts Saturday as the opening legs to the 40th annual Florida Sire Stakes were part of a big Rainbow 6 forceout at Gulfstream Park in South Florida. My Sassenach ($21) was an easy winner of the $100,000 Desert Vixen, and Cajun’s Magic ($15) fought off stablemate Dean Delivers to capture the $100,000 Dr. Fager in kicking off the Florida Sire Stakes with six furlong races for statebred 2-year-olds. The series continues with the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan’s Girl on Aug. 28 and the $400,000 In Reality and $400,000 My Dear Girl on Sept. 25. My Sassenach and Cajun’s Magic were among the six winners in the Rainbow 6, which spanned the last six races of the day (races 8-13). Chasing a Friday carryover of $500,635 that had built all of July, new handle was $2,331,923, with each winning 20-cent ticket returning $14,880.32. The winning numbers were 6-5-9-5-3-8. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analysis, and expert picks. The day ended with favored Choose Joy ($6.60) winning the $60,000 Bay Harbor Islands, an overnight handicap contested by eight filly-mare turf sprinters. Giving jockey Miguel Vasquez his third win of the day, Choose Joy finished in 56.19 seconds over a firm course when narrowly defeating Cat’s Astray, who ultimately was disqualified to third for stretch interference. Some 90 minutes earlier in the Desert Vixen (race 10), My Sassenach got a terrific stalking trip under Vasquez before moving out to a 8 1/4-length score, getting the distance in 1:12.17 over a fast track. Trained by David Braddy for Champion Equine Inc., the daughter of Uncaptured was winning for the first time after finishing second in her lone prior start, a July 1 maiden race at Gulfstream. Demurely was along to get second, three-quarters of a length before Rufa Red Knot, while Noble Dreamer was fourth as the 7-5 favorite. In the Dr. Fager (race 12), Cajun’s Magic and jockey Jesus Rios looped into contention at the quarter-pole, taking the lead before having to fight off a persistent Dean Delivers to prevail by a neck. The winning time was 1:11.01, with 40-1 shot Gold Special finishing well back in third in a field of seven colts and geldings. Dean Delivers, the 8-5 favorite, was game in defeat, disputing all the pace before giving way grudgingly. Michael Yates trains the top two finishers for their breeder, the Stonehedge Farm of Gilbert Campbell. This was the 16th win in the Florida Sire Stakes series for Stonehedge. :: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more. “I had no idea who was best,” Yates said afterward. “They’ve basically been inseparable in the mornings – it was a fight. This is quite a thrill.” Gulfstream guaranteed a $3 million pool for the Rainbow 6, so the track had to make up the difference of nearly $170,000 in paying off the winners. An 11-race program is on tap Sunday (first post, 12:50 p.m. Eastern) at Gulfstream, where three-day weekends have become the norm while an overhaul of the turf course and installation of the new Tapeta course continue.