Una Luna the one if Saturday allowance remains on turf

It’s rainy season in South Florida, which explains why turf racing has been largely absent from the Gulfstream Park results recently. During five race dates last week (July 31 to Aug. 4), conditions allowed a mere four races to be contested over the spacious turf course, with all others transferred to the main track.

Four straight days of racing action at Gulfstream began Thursday with rain in the forecast for the entirety of this week, so the key variable for keeping races on turf is timing and amount. It’s an obvious hit-or-miss proposition, with track officials and horsemen keeping their fingers crossed.

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The Saturday card at Gulfstream will be subject to the whims of Mother Nature, with five of the 12 races being carded for the grass. The first race will test the waters (no pun intended) right away, as it’s a $47,000 allowance scheduled for a mile on turf.

Una Luna, with an outstanding record of 3-2-1 from six starts this year, ranks as a deserving favorite in a full field of fillies and mares if the race remains on turf. Otherwise, with Una Luna never having raced on dirt, it would become a grab-bag, not unlike many off-turf races.

The only other allowance of the day is race 6, a $48,000 second-level race at seven furlongs on the main track. Calinas Song, entered off runner-up finishes in back-to-back Gulfstream stakes, is the likely favorite over Heiressall in what seems a two-horse race among just five fillies and mares.

While the allowances serve as nominal features on a card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern, they’re not the richest races of the day. A couple of $60,000 sprints for 2-year-old maidens (races 9 and 12) carry the biggest purses, and they’re part of the daily Rainbow 6 wager (races 7-12). The Rainbow 6 had a jackpot approaching $500,000 when the race week began Thursday.

◗ With the first legs of the Florida Sire Stakes held last Saturday, this will be the first of three straight weekends at Gulfstream without a stakes. The next such races are the $100,000 Benny the Bull on Aug. 24 and the second legs of the Florida Sire series, the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan’s Girl, on Aug. 31.

◗ Stall applications are due Sept. 6 for the four-month championship meet, which begins Nov. 30.