Wide-open maiden races bookend Rainbow 6 with mandatory payout

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Coming less than three weeks since its latest forceout, Gulfstream Park once again has received permission to offer a mandatory disbursement of the entire Rainbow 6 jackpot on the last six races Saturday.

The Rainbow 6 pool stood at $867,787 into Thursday. Assuming no unique winner drains the Rainbow 6 pool Thursday or Friday, the Saturday forceout figures to entice somewhere from $6 million to $8 million in new handle.

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The minimum wager is 20 cents on a sequence spanning races 7-12. The Gulfstream Park Sprint (race 11) will have a heavy favorite in Mischevious Alex, and no doubt many bettors will single him on their tickets.

Rainbow 6 forceouts have become somewhat commonplace at Gulfstream. The latest occurred Jan. 24, when winning tickets returned $12,559 apiece. New handle was only $2,077,971, but that’s because the jackpot had been swept earlier that week.

First post Saturday is 12:10 p.m. Eastern, with the Rainbow 6 starting at 3:10. Dry weather is in the forecast, meaning turf races most likely will stay put. Here’s a quick rundown:

Race 7

Unless also-eligible Shaftesbury can somehow make it into this one-mile turf race with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, there’s no way to pinpoint a deserving favorite in the Rainbow 6 opener. Everesting ran well to be fifth in the same Jan. 16 race in which Shaftesbury was second, but he’ll have to break from post 12 and faces first-time starters trained by Chad Brown (Tour of Duty), Christophe Clement (Q F Seventy Five), and Todd Pletcher (Golden Whim).

And then there’s Saratoga Flash, regrouped by Barclay Tagg after being heavily touted last summer; Group Hug, who improved substantially with blinkers and Lasix last out; and Lord of War, newly gelded off the Mark Casse claim after being defeated by just a nose. Again, unless Shaftesbury draws in, this has the look of a mega-spread for bettors wanting to be alive after the first leg.

Race 8

Half of the eight fillies and mares in this first-level one-mile allowance are last-out winners, including Funnybet, who seeks a fourth straight victory after being away 11 weeks. It’s another well-matched one, with Princess Betty, a last-out runner-up, likely to draw strong backing with Ortiz up. There are no simple throw-outs, unless you think O’Malley will struggle on dirt or Addilyn might be a cut below.

Race 9

With four main-track-only designates among 14 entries, there should be no more than 10 actual starters in this $16,000 claimer for filly-mare turf milers. Hoponthebusgus, a proven quantity at this level, will get the rail post after scratches, and she’ll attract lots of play off the Saffie Joseph Jr. re-claim. But a handful of others appear similarly capable, including Jost Sayin and Omnia, both of whom exit tougher starter races, along with Towa, Aerodynamic, Scatnap, and Yako.

Race 10

If you choose to single Structor here, you’re thinking the layoff of more than 15 months and his comparatively low Beyer Speed Figures are more than mitigated by the fact he’s an unbeaten Breeders’ Cup winner whose trainer, Chad Brown, has him ready to roll. Strictly up to you.

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Otherwise, the alternatives are difficult to separate. Penalty has some quality to him. Lamartine is a first-time gelding and first-time Brendan Walsh. Grand Journey gets Ortiz after finally rounding into form off the Mike Maker claim. And Ever Dangerous makes his first start after upsetting a Breeders’ Cup Day stakes at a $150 mutuel.

Race 11

With three of these seven entries in the Gulfstream Park Sprint having been cross-entered for Saturday in the Pelican at Tampa Bay Downs, this race could easily fall apart even before the gates are sprung. In any case, Mischevious Alex, a three-time stakes winner last year at 3, gave every indication he could develop into a top-rank older sprinter by winning his Jan. 10 comeback with a 103 Beyer, and with Ortiz on a return call, he’ll be a very short price.

Race 12

The finale is a split of the same maiden-special as the race-7 Rainbow 6 opener. Favoritism most likely goes to the Juddmonte homebred Floriform off a sharp runner-up effort (and field-high 83 Beyer), although Performing Arts also showed promise in his Jan. 16 debut for Brian Lynch. And then there are the Brown (Rosenquist) and Pletcher (Bracken) colts making their grass debuts after getting experience on dirt.

Proposed $60 ticket: 1, 3, 6, 7, 10 with 7 with 2, 4, 6 with 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 with 5 with 3, 6, 7, 12.