Richies Great Girl, Irad Ortiz Jr. form strong team in Sunday allowance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Back-to-back allowances for filly-mare sprinters will serve as featured events on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

The richest race on the 11-race Sunday card is the 10th, a $51,000 first-level turf sprint that drew 10 fillies and mares. Richies Great Girl, seeking a third straight victory, could come a slight favorite, in no small part because the ever-popular Irad Ortiz Jr. will be back aboard. Richies Great Girl and Ortiz combined for a nose victory in Florida-bred allowance company here last month.

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Two of her top challengers, Awsum Roar (Edgard Zayas to ride) and My Sassy Sarah (John Velazquez), are drawn just outside of Richies Great Girl. Zayas, who has missed sizable portions of the last two championship meets, has enjoyed a terrific start to this meet, winning 42 races through Thursday to place him fourth in the local standings.

“I think I’ve grown a lot through the year, through all the ups and downs and the injuries,” Zayas said. “I’ve been riding with a lot of confidence, not getting horses out of their pace, riding the way the race comes up and trying to be smarter.”

Awsum Roar, a 7-year-old New York-bred with 10 wins, is back in top form for trainer Antonio Sano. Her two starts at this meet have resulted in Beyer Speed Figures of 78 and 81, numbers that would make her a very serious player here.

The other Sunday allowance directly precedes the feature as race 9. It’s a $47,000 first-level race set for six furlongs on the main track. Favorites in a field of eight figure to be Royal Meghan and Bramble Berry, both last-out winners versus Florida-breds, along with the Sano-trained Addilyn.

Both of the allowances are part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 6-11), which had its jackpot emptied earlier this week. Gulfstream was expected to announce the amount of a Rainbow 6 pool guarantee for Sunday sometime after Saturday’s Pegasus Day card was complete.

First post Sunday is 12:05 p.m. Eastern, with the local forecast calling for mostly sunny skies and a high of 79. Six of the races are scheduled for the turf course, which should once again be rated firm amid a prolonged dry period. Three of the 11 races are maiden special weights.

A limited number of ticketed fans were to be welcomed ontrack here Saturday, when the Pegasus World Cup was to culminate a 12-race card. A familiar no-spectator policy will be back in effect Sunday – and until further notice – as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.

After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark for two days before another five-day week starts Wednesday. The highlight of the coming weekend is Saturday’s 30th running of the Holy Bull, a 10-4-2-1 points qualifier toward the May 1 Kentucky Derby.