Rainbow 6 mandatory payout pool could reach $6 million

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 will highlight an 11-race card that wraps another Pegasus weekend Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

The final pool is likely to reach and possibly exceed $6 million if the very challenging sequence on Saturday’s Pegasus program doesn’t result in another “Borislow,” that is one single winner walking away with the entire pot the day before a much anticipated forceout of a pool seeded by a very lucrative carryover. The term was coined to honor the memory of the late Dan Borislow, who collected $6.6 million for solving the Rainbow 6 just 24 hours before a scheduled mega-forceout in May of 2014.

Sunday’s sequence will not be a walk in the park either. Full fields are the order of the day, with three of the six events to be decided on the turf, weather permitting, and two others over the always challenging Tapeta course.

Race 6: A dozen bottom-level claimers going 1 1/16 miles over the synthetic makes the opening leg of the sequence a tough obstacle. Those with well-endowed bankrolls might want to go at least five deep to stay alive, using a group that includes UNIFIED WEEKEND, MOST WANTED MAN, SAND DANCER, TIDAL FORCES, and KLICKITAT, who goes first time for trainer Jose D’Angelo with Jose Ortiz in the irons. The logical choice but biggest question mark in the race is the class-dropping TIDAL FORCES, who shows up under a $10,000 tag after being claimed out of a winning effort for more than three times that price over the synthetic track at Woodbine on Nov. 19. He has kept a steady work schedule since arriving locally and did look sharp in his final breeze one week earlier.

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Race 7: A maiden special weight for 3-year-olds on the turf that features yet another 12-horse lineup is up next and includes four first-time starters, with the board – other than the prospective daily double payoffs – not much help to Rainbow 6 players trying to decide whether to use or toss the new faces. Of that group, the Brian Lynch-trained FREAKAZOID, Todd Pletcher’s GUN BARREL CITY, and Chad Brown’s JOHN THE BEER MAN all look live. TEAM CAPTAIN may be best of the experienced ones, turning back in distance and exiting a sharp work in company with Pegasus World Cup starter Nimitz Class at Palm Beach Downs on Jan. 13. AIR INVASION, a half to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint runner-up Big Invasion, is very logical as well, although he must overcome the very tough outside post at this distance.

Race 8: The lone main track race in the sequence lured just nine starters, led by likely favorite CLASSIFY and BEASTLY SPEED, who has chased that one home in each of their last two meetings. It’s also hard to ignore BIRD WILDCAT, who won in this same condition in relatively easy fashion three starts back, and the speedy SIR OLLIE on the drop back with statebreds for the first time in nearly two years.

Race 9: Woodbine invader CONGLOMERATE and local Tapeta specialist and win machine FLY THE W will likely dominate most tickets in this sequence but must carry high weight of 127 and 125 pounds, respectively, which could leave the door open for an upset. RACE CRAFT and THE BEST DISTANCE, who may try to steal this one on the front end breaking from the rail, have both been in the mix with this kind in the past and are also very fond of the local course.

Race 10: For those fortunate enough to still be alive at this point, the water gets even deeper with another full field of allowance horses going five-eighths on the turf. The trip will be key to the chances of so many of the logical contenders, which include TILTED TOWERS, FAMOUS GENT, with Irad back aboard, and PORTOFINO. BAIE LONGUE and BRING THEBAND HOME are both working well for the race but are poorly drawn on the outside, the latter is also a question mark on grass.

Race 11: Another full house on the turf closes things out, featuring the unknown of three first-time starters and several others making their grass debuts. HELLO HOLLYWOOD looks best of the two Brian Lynch newbies in this spot, while both MAMA BELLA and TWISTED ROMANCE are exiting a key race here last month that has produced two next-out graduates from the four fillies who have run back out of the event. It’s hard to leave YES TO CHAMPAGNE out of the equation as well, adding blinkers and shortening up in distance off a solid outing as the favorite in his inner course bow.

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