Pool projected at $750,000 for Sunday's mandatory-payout Rainbow 6
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What High Lateen lacks in experience his trainer, David Fawkes, feels he can make up for with pure talent when going postward one of several key contenders in Sunday’s $62,500 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race serves as the fourth and arguably one of the more puzzling legs of a mandatory-payout Rainbow 6 sequence that management estimates will close with a total jackpot in the vicinity of $750,000.
High Lateen was claimed by Fawkes for $35,000 out of his career debut, which came over the Tapeta course May 23. The new acquisition has really flourished since stretching out around two turns and switching to turf, having captured each of his next two starts by two lengths, including an entry-level allowance race restricted to Florida-breds for which he earned a career-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure.
High Lateen is one of two horses Fawkes will send out in the main event along with Chayton, another who figures to draw considerable support in an extremely well-matched field of eight 3-year-olds entered to go a mile on the grass.
“He’s doing great, and I think he’s a little better than the other horse [Chayton] I’ve got in the race,” Fawkes said. “He’s only started three times but runs like a more experienced horse and he should move forward again off his last effort. I just hope he gets a good trip from the rail.”
Despite Fawkes’s confidence in High Lateen, many Rainbow 6 players will likely consider taking a bit of a spread in the race and will have plenty of options to choose from. In the field for race 7 are last-out winners Quizzler, Redland Rebels, and Act a Fool, along with Paris Surprise and stakes-placed Junction Road.
The remainder of the Rainbow 6 sequence, which spans races 4-9, stacks up in the following manner.
Race 4
A lower-level conditioned claimer going 6 1/2 furlongs has Gullfaxi as the most logical contender, having finished second, beaten a head, going a mile when dropping into the category for the first time two months earlier.
Bonmati, Lady Chance, and Mithril, all recent never-won-two claiming winners, also are likely to draw considerable attention, with Mithril showing vastly improved form since switching to dirt late last spring.
Race 5
Maidens go a mile on turf, weather permitting, with a couple of 3-year-olds making their two-turn debuts – Coristine and Jean Laffite – perhaps the best options in the Rainbow 6. Coristine is by above-average grass sire Liam’s Map, with trainer Heather Smullen adding blinkers to the equation for his third start. Jean Laffite already showed an affinity for the surface in his only previous start while seemingly the one to catch going a mile at second asking.
Race 6
The lone race of the sequence over the Tapeta is another lower-priced conditioned claimer, with Melody Factor and Oxar hard to ignore. Both have joined potent barns off the claim in their most recent starts. Melody Factor is now with Victor Barboza Jr., and Oxar is taking another class drop for Jose D’Angelo.
Race 8
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sends out the two most logical winners in the penultimate leg, R Delray and Ruleroftheuniverse, although both come with major question marks hanging over their heads. R Delray is plunging out of a key first-level allowance race (two next-out winners among the also-rans) into this bottom-level conditioned claimer. Ruleroftheuniverse is dropping out of a solid effort for more than twice this tag while exiting a recent five-month layoff and a vet-voided claim in summer 2025 at Saratoga.
Those looking to find a pricier alternative are likely to gravitate toward the rail-drawn Step Slow, who also gets a bit of a suspicious class drop into the category.
Race 9
Congratulations to all those still alive at this point. Having the “all” button here probably is a good thing, but those looking to narrow the cost a bit should probably try either Souffle On Fire, returning to arguably his preferred surface, the turf, for Joseph, or the potentially loose-on-the-lead Getaholdayourself off the claim by Fawkes.
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