Friday, April 4, 2025
Postponed from last Sunday's cancellation . . .

    HALLANDALE BEACH - A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 13 at Gulfstream Park.

    Originally scheduled for last Sunday, the multi-race wager’s mandatory payout was postponed due to heavy rains and windy conditions that forced the cancellation of the 2024-2025 Championship Meet’s closing-day card following Race 5.

    The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the fifth day on Thursday’s Royal Palm Meet’s opening-day program. Today’s Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is expected to grow to an estimated $450,000.

    The sequence will span Races 4-9, featuring a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares on Tapeta carded as Race 7, in which Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained Time Passage will make her 2025 debut. The 5-year-old daughter of Tunwoo, who will run for a $62,500 claiming tag, has won three stakes on the all-weather surface. Kevin Rice-trained Ms. Tart enters the feature with a victory while cutting back to 5 ½ furlongs last time out.

Silks to Open at 9 a.m. for Dubai World Cup Card Simulcast

    The doors of the Silks simulcast center will open at 9 a.m. Saturday for the convenience of fans wishing to watch and wager on the $30 million Dubai World Cup Day program.

    Gulfstream will be represented by Il Miracolo, Super Chow and Steal Sunshine at Meydan Racecourse. Antonio Sano-trained Il Miracolo, a multiple graded-stakes winner who’ll be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, will run in the $12 million Dubai World Cup, the 1 ¼-mile feature that is scheduled to close out the action at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

    Jorge Delgado-trained Super Chow, a multiple graded stakes-winner who captured the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint in his 2025 debut, will be reunited with jockey Chantal Sutherland in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen, a six-furlong test for older horses with an 11:40 a.m. post time. Bobby Dibona-conditioned Steal Sunshine, a Grade 2 winner who will be ridden by Christophe Lemaire, will run in the $1 million Godolphin Mile, a stakes for older horses that is slated for 9:45 a.m.

Thursday, April 3, 2025
Features $1.785 million in stakes purses. . .
    HALLANDALE BEACH - The Royal Palm Meet at Gulfstream Park began today highlighted by the third running of the Royal Palm Juvenile and Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, races that will once again offer automatic berths to one of six juvenile races at the upcoming Royal Ascot meet in England along with a $25,000 travel stipend.

    The meeting, which runs through August 31, will include $1.785 million in stakes purses and $910,000 in overnight handicaps. The Royal Palm Meet will run Thursday through Sunday through June 22 before going Friday through Sunday starting June 27. First race post is 12:50 p.m.

    The $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile and $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, both run at five furlongs on the turf May 10, have been productive preps for the Royal Ascot races, with 2023 Juvenile Fillies victor Crimson Advocate winning the Gr. II Queen Mary and 2024 Juvenile winner Gabaldon finishing second in last year’s Windsor Castle.

    Today's eight-race, opening day program will featured two one- mile turf events and a maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies at 5 ½ furlongs on Tapeta.  

    Stakes action begins Saturday with the $70,000 Go Cats Go for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on the turf. The field of 10 will include Xy Speed, a winner of 13 of 26 career starts at the distance as well as Silks Run winner Eamonn and runner-up Reef Runner.


    The Stanley Cup, won by the Florida Panthers last year, will be at Gulfstream Saturday afternoon for fans to take pictures with and enjoy. The Cup will be at Ten Palms beginning at approximately noon for 2 ½ hours.


    Gulfstream was forced to cancel the closing day of its Championship Meet, Sunday, March 30, due to heavy afternoon rains, cancelling the mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6. The wager, with a current carryover of $288,488, will now have a mandatory payout on Sunday, April 13.

    On Saturday, May 3, Gulfstream will host a Kentucky Derby Buffet and Watch Party in Ten Palms beginning at 11:30 a.m. Along with live racing at Gulfstream, fans will be able to watch and wager on the Kentucky Derby while enjoying mint juleps and other Derby favorites.
Monday, March 31, 2025
Big weekend for OBS grads . . .

    Mark Casse trainee and OBS graduate Sandman (Tapit-Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor) used the final Saturday in March to book his plans for the first Saturday in May when he rolled to a 2 1/2-length victory in the $1.5 million, Gr. I Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, headlining a weekend that saw three OBS grads earn graded stakes victories.

    Sandman took advantage of wicked early fractions to unleash his closing kick and collected 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The son of Tapit notched his third win in eight lifetime starts and improved his lifetime earnings to $1,254,595
.

    “I couldn’t believe it, actually (early fractions),” Casse told the Oaklawn publicity team. “I said: ‘Well, they’ll have to be superstars to keep going.’ The farther they went, the more confident I was."

    A $1.2 million purchase at the 2024 OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training sale, Sandman races for D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. He was consigned by Tom McCrocklin as part of a complete dispersal for his breeder, Lothenbach Stables.

    The busy slate of stakes across the country on March 29 also saw C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio (Race Day – Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief) make a triumphant return from his victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a handy 5 ¼-length score in the $165,000, Gr. III Ghostzapper over fellow Gr. 1-winning OBS grad Power Squeeze at Gulfstream Park.

    White Abarrio, who had captured the Pegasus World Cup by 6 ¼ lengths, is scheduled to run next in the Gr. I Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga. A two-time OBS graduate, White Abarrio was sold by Summerfield (Francis & Barbara Vanlangendonck), Agent, at the 2020 Winter Mixed Sale and then purchased for $40,000 out of the Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2021 March Sale after breezing an eighth in :10 2/5.

    At Santa Anita Park, CSLR Racing Partners’ Pilot Commander (Justify-Rebuke, by Carson City) earned his first stakes win when he prevailed in the $100,000, Gr. III San Carlos Stakes going seven furlongs. A 4-year-old colt trained by Bob Baffert, he was purchased by his owners for $700,000 out of the 2025 OBS March sale from the consignment of Niall Brennan Stables after breezing in :9 4/5.

Other OBS graduates who earned stakes victories:

    March 29: Appleton Stakes: Brad Grady and David Grund’s Seminole Chief (Girvin – Secret Song, by Dunkirk) earned his second stakes victory when he annexed the $165,000 Appleton at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Jack Sisterson, Seminole Chief was consigned by Bobby Dodd, Agent, to the 2023 OBS June Sale and sold to HND Bloodstock for $80,000 after breezing in :10 1/5.


    March 30: Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes: Macho Music (Maclean’s Music-Southern Girl, by Tapit) drew off to an 11 ¼-length victory over fellow OBS graduate P Four to take the $110,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore going seven furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs, lowering the former stakes mark of 1:22.13 set in 2011 by Manicero to 1:21.30. Macho Music is owned by Mark Fletcher Taylor, Rohan Crichton and Daniel L. Walters and trained by Crichton. The partners purchased him for $60,000 from the Pick View consignment at the 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training after breezing in :10 2/5.


    Sophomore Fillies Stakes: Win N Your In (Win Win Win-Hello Rosie, by Yes It’s True) powered to a 7-length victory in the $110,000 Sophomore Fillies Stakes over fellow OBS graduate Bella Cleopatra at Tampa Bay Downs. The victory was the fourth from nine lifetime starts for Win N Your In, who is owned by Troy Johnson and Maritza Weston, and her third stakes victory. Trained by Carlos David, she was purchased by Johnson for $12,000 out of the Summerfield consignment at the 2023 OBS Winter Mixed Sale.

Sunday, March 30, 2025
Joseph wins 70 races . . .
    HALLANDALE BEACH - Tappan Street’s victory in Saturday’s $1 million Curlin Florida Derby placed an exclamation point on an action-packed 2024-2025 Championship Meet that came to a close Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

    WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and Cold Press Racing’s 3-year-old son of Into Mischief defeated Coolmore Fountain of Youth winner Sovereignty by 1 ¼ lengths to earn 100 qualifying points for the May 3 Kentucky Derby.  Both Tappan Street and Sovereignty, who added 50 qualifying points to the 50 he earned in the Fountain of Youth, will bid to become the 26th Florida Derby starter to win the Kentucky Derby.

    C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio was the equine star of the meet that opened on Thanksgiving Day. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained 6-year-old rolled to a decisive 6 ¼-length victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and romped to a 5 ¼-mile score in the Gr. III Ghostzapper by 5 ¼ lengths on the Florida Derby undercard.

    Joseph collected his fourth consecutive Championship Meet training title with 70 victories and his 12th consecutive title overall at Gulfstream Park. He also topped the trainer standings with purses-won with more than $5.8 million.

    “This has definitely been our best meet because this is the first time we’re going to lead in earnings and winners. I think last year we got beat by a small margin in earnings, so it just shows that we have some quality horses,” Joseph said. “All the credit to the owners for giving us the horses. We’re very thankful to them.”

    Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard White Abarrio for his Pegasus World Cup and Ghostzapper wins, collected his third straight Championship Meet title with 109 wins. He has worn the riding crown in six of the past seven Championship Meets.

    “It feels great to have the support we need to win the title, all the support from the trainers and owners,” said Ortiz, who also gave credit to his agent Steve Rushing. “I love the weather down here in the wintertime. I have my family here. We’ve won some races with horses we followed down here.”

    Ken Ramsey topped the Owner Standings for a second Championship Meet in a row with 18 wins.

    The Royal Palm Meet will get underway Thursday and will run through Aug. 30. Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday weekly. First-race post is set for 12:50 p.m.

    The $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile and the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies will highlight the Royal Palm Meet stakes schedule on May 10. The five-furlong turf sprints are designated qualifiers for the Royal Ascot stakes in June. Last year, Jose D’Angelo-trained Gabaldon won the Royal Palm Juvenile and went on to finish a photo-finish second in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot.
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Met Mile is next . . .
    HALLANDALE BEACH - C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio made a triumphant return Saturday from his smashing victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a dominating 5 ¼-length score in the $165,000, Gr. III Ghostzapper  presented by FanDuel TV at Gulfstream Park.

    “He’s in a different league right now,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He did it as easy as he can.”

    White Abarrio, who captured the 2022 Florida Derby, was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 4-year-olds and up, one of 10 stakes, five graded, on Saturday’s 14-race Florida Derby Day program.

    The 6-year-old son of Race Day broke cleanly from the starting gate to stalk stablemate One Sharp Cookie around the first turn and into the backstretch. Joseph-trained One Sharp Cookie completed the first quarter of a mile in :22.82 before his celebrated stablemate took over while getting the first half-mile in ;45.98. White Abarrio was joined by 2024 Gulfstream Park Oaks  winner Power Squeeze to his outside on the far turn.

    Turning into the stretch, Ortiz asked White Abarrio and the flashy gray multiple Gr. 1 stakes- winner responded instantly, drawing away to a comfortable victory in 1:41.97 with minimal urging.

    “Beautiful. He broke good again, and when he breaks like that he makes things easier. I didn’t do too much. I just let him be him, and that was it. I let him be him every step of the way,” Ortiz said.

    Joseph was impressed with White Abarrio’s sub-1:42 1 1/16-mile performance.

    “At the quarter-pole, obviously I knew they were going quick and I was looking to see if the race was going to fall apart,” he said. “He’s just in a different league right now. Hopefully, he stays healthy after this. We feel like he’s the best horse in the country.”

    White Abarrio, who had captured the Pegasus World Cup by 6 ¼ lengths, is scheduled to run next in the Gr. I Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga.

    “Perfect prep. You obviously want to make it as easy as possible, and you want to win. You don’t want to get beat. I though he won as easy as he could after going so quick early,” Joseph said. ‘I haven’t seen anyone go under 1:42 in a long time on this track. I know they got a little moisture in it but not enough to make it that fast.”