Regardless of surface, Macho Blue figures in Friday feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The only allowance on a 10-race program serves as the nominal feature Friday at Gulfstream Park, where the ebb and flow of high-caliber racing is part of the natural order of things.

Big-event Saturdays are a staple of the four-month championship meet, and so are many other days when multiple allowances or maiden-specials generate great interest among horseplayers. The inevitable exception to that rule is the occasional card lacking in top-end racing, and that’s essentially what’s being offered here Friday with nine claiming or maiden-claiming races.

First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the lone allowance carded as the ninth (5:03 p.m.). It’s a $51,000 first-level race scheduled for five furlongs on the turf, although the forecast of Friday rain means a field of eight older horses might be further reduced if the race is forced to the main track.

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Macho Blue, unbeaten in three starts over the local turf, would be the horse to beat if the race stays on turf – and maybe even if a surface switch occurs. The Florida-bred gelding won here last March under similar circumstances when making his first start off a Jose Gallegos claim.

The feature is part of a 20-cent Rainbow 6 wager (races 5-10) that has gone unswept by a solo winning ticket since Jan. 30. When a six-day race week got under way here Wednesday, the Rainbow 6 jackpot stood at $526,981, with management offering a pool guarantee of $800,000 that is likely to increase as the week unfolds.

The lone graded event this weekend at Gulfstream is the Grade 3, $150,000 Royal Delta, to be run Saturday at 1 1/16 miles. Restless Rider, Golden Award, Cookie Dough, and Coach Rocks are among the fillies and mares expected.

As many as 12 starter stakes, all with purses of $50,000 or $60,000, will be run Monday on the Presidents Day card.