Race 7 key to taking down mandatory-payout Rainbow 6
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Handicappers will get a shot at yet another mandatory Rainbow 6 payout Sunday at Gulfstream Park. A key to success will be trying to figure out what to do with General Ledger in the third leg of the sequence, a $57,000 allowance/optional claimer to be decided at a mile on the turf.
On paper, General Ledger is the class of the field and one to catch stretching back around two turns and returning to the grass (or Tapeta surface if Mother Nature intervenes) in race 7. But there are red flags aplenty flying about the once highly regarded gelding. General Ledger has competed against stakes competition in nine of his 15 career starts but shows up Sunday under a $25,000 claiming tag while making just his second outing in nearly a year for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Those inclined to toss General Ledger and look elsewhere may find themselves taking a rather large spread on their Rainbow 6 tickets in a field that includes at least a handful of other potential win options. The group includes Junction Road, Eldest Son, and Samburu, along with the Jose D’Angelo-trained duo of Brigade Commander and Sigan Viendo.
Junction Road is a late-running sort who has earned high marks from a Beyer Speed Figure standpoint while being competitive on both turf and Tapeta under similar conditions here last winter. Although idle since late March, he has worked extremely well over both the synthetic and main tracks the past several weeks.
Eldest Son, like General Ledger, also will show up under a $25,000 price tag for the first time while making his third start since defeating much higher-priced optional-claiming and allowance competition over the turf here May 24.
Samburu is very consistent from a Beyer Figure standpoint and has finished second in his last two starts while in the barn of red-hot trainer Jose Castro.
Brigade Commander starts for the first time since being haltered by D’Angelo for $40,000 out of a fourth-place finish this summer at Saratoga. A well-graded winner of a $50,000 optional-claiming/starter-allowance race 24 days earlier at the Spa, he would likely be one to toss if this race were switched to the Tapeta track due to his lack of any previous experience over the surface.
Sigan Viendo has improved steadily for D’Angelo the past several months and is proven on both the grass and synthetic track. The 3-year-old son of Bee Jersey figures to prompt the early running but will be taking on older and more seasoned horses.
Mythical finishes work strong
Mythical served notice she will be a force to reckon with in next Saturday’s $150,000 Susan’s Girl division of the Florida Sire Series by turning in a sharp four-furlong breeze in 49.07 seconds for trainer Jorge Delgado over a drying-out surface here Friday morning.
Working solo, Mythical eased away from the half-mile pole in 13.50 for the opening furlong before completing her final three-eighths in 35.57. She then galloped out full of run into and around the turn, completing five furlongs in 1:01.95 before easing up after three-quarters of a mile in 1:14.56.
Mythical, an Arindel homebred by St Patricks Day, began her career with three wire-to-wire, one-sided victories that included a 3 1/4-length win in the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga. She returns home after finishing a disappointing fifth, 16 lengths behind Tommy Jo, currently the leader of the 2-year-old filly division, in the Grade 1 Spinaway when trying to stay seven furlongs for the first time on Aug. 30.
“Although this next race is seven furlongs as well, we feel the distance is okay for her,” Arindel president Brian Cohen said. “It’s just that the fractions were suicidal in her last start.”
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