Persuasive, Lucky Kitten meet again in Thursday feature
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Thursday’s main event is a $43,000 allowance/optional claimer that lured a field of seven going a mile on turf. The race will feature a rematch between Persuasive and Lucky Kitten, who finished second and third behind the red-hot Grand Isle on May 11.
Grand Isle has won his last three starts, including a higher-level allowance/optional claimer by nearly three lengths last weekend.
Lucky Kitten has changed barns since his last start, having been haltered by trainer Mike Maker in the interest of the Maxis Stable for $25,000 six weeks ago. Maker had previously trained Lucky Kitten for the gelding’s breeders, Ken and Sarah Ramsey, earlier in his career.
Persuasive is coming off a fourth-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile Gleaming Stakes on May 26. Persuasive, a homebred son of Stephen Got Even owned by Arindel Farm, was stakes-placed here last spring with trainer Joseph Hennessy.
The Rainbow 6 will open with a carryover of nearly $50,000 when racing resumes Thursday. There was only one live ticket going into the final leg of the Rainbow 6 on Sunday. That ticket covered the favored Little Big Girl, who finished seventh after forcing the issue into the stretch of the afternoon’s finale.
There will be a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 and the late pick five here June 30.