Barbara D. Livingston
Lord Miles, longshot winner of last year’s Wood Memorial, makes the second start of his comeback in race 12, the Wildcat Red overnight handicap.
Grade 2 winner Lord Miles launches his summer campaign on a Saturday card at Gulfstream Park that will have a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 jackpot pool that is anticipated to be in the seven figures.
Gulfstream was to have opened its race week Thursday with a projected jackpot pool of $550,000. It’s been 21 days since the 20-cent bet was last hit.
The Rainbow 6 on Saturday runs on races 8-13 and features the $75,000 Wildcat Red overnight handicap led by Lord Miles and the $95,000 Powder Break. The forecast for Saturday calls for a 65 percent chance of a morning shower and a high of 88 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
The sequence features three races on dirt and three on Tapeta as turf racing will not resume until July 5. There’s an average of 10 horses per race, with three fields drawing 11.
Race 8: The sequence opener is a $35,000 maiden-claiming sprint for fillies and mares over seven furlongs, and with no older runners signed on, all of the entrants are 3.
Bigbouquetofroses has a nice foundation for the move back to seven furlongs, a demanding distance that she’s bred to handle. R Disaster debuts with some sharp works for a stallion getting 11 percent winners from his first-time starters and a mare whose eight career victories came in main-track sprints. Mobay Princess figures to be strong through the stretch on the cutback from two turns.
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Race 9: This is a tough leg as there appear to be a host of options in the $8,000 conditioned claimer for 3-year-olds and up over 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta.
Luna Warrior might have a chance to control the pace and also owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure. Banneker can track and exits a race against steeper. Grand Bey can sit just off the pace and has an age edge on some of these as he is 4. Breezer is a fresh horse who wired his rivals two starts ago, and Awesome Wind gets the services of a journeyman in Miguel Vasquez after performing well under a 10-pound apprentice of late.
Race 10: It’s back on dirt in a race for $6,250 claiming veterans at a one-turn mile.
Holiday Fantasy is a multiple winner at this trip at Gulfstream and is further appealing for the tactical speed he brings to the table. Boldness is a consistent horse who has been favored in two of his last three starts. During that period, he won at this level and distance. Big Bucksalot has some class appeal as he has been facing higher-priced foes.
Race 11: Where’s the speed? There’s no obvious pacesetter in this $16,000 conditioned claimer for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta.
The horse who might jump out and go is sprint-to-route prospect Mr Ramirez, whose Beyer Speed Figures are lacking compared to the competition. He is stretching out off a seven-furlong race in March, but won at two turns in February when he wired a field of maiden-claiming rivals over 6 1/2 furlongs at Delta Downs.
One of the top choices in this spot is Mr Brizel, a turf runner of late who is a winner on Tapeta and who breezed five-eighths on the surface in a sharp 1:00.20 on June 2. Other players include Las Olas, Immense Faith, who could show speed from the rail, and key-race winner Gemstone Warrior.
Race 12: Lord Miles will be giving up recency to some of his Wildcat Red rivals. The one-mile race will be his first out since April. He is the 120-pound co-highweight alongside Black Belt and Shaq Diesel.
Lord Miles registered his signature win over 1 1/8 miles in last year’s Wood Memorial. He’s returning at a distance that might be less than optimal due to this being his first start back, but he won his debut at one turn and he’s the class of the field with earnings of nearly $550,000.
Black Belt was putting up the kind of Beyer Figures that would point him out as a chief contender before a trip to Fair Grounds where he finished an uncharacteristic ninth in the New Orleans Handicap, which has produced two next-out stakes winners. Black Belt is a Grade 3 winner and looks like the kind of horse who could take this from the bell when he breaks from the rail.
Positive Review has fired a series of bullets for his first start since the spring. The stakes winner could get an ideal tracking trip off Black Belt.
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Race 13: The Powder Break for fillies and mares goes at a mile and 70 yards on Tapeta, and Chick’s Shadow, who was second last year, is back.
Grade 3 winner Angel Nadeshiko is making her synthetic-track debut for the meet’s leading trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr., who wins at an above average rate with turf-to-synthetic prospects. Wide West is a multiple winner on Tapeta and might prove to be the one to catch as the stakes winner is stretching out around two turns for the first time. Jan’s Girl owns the field’s best last-race synthetic Beyer, an 84.
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