The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $325,000 Saturday at Gulfstream Park West in Miami Gardens, Fla., where the $60,000 Millions Turf Preview and the $60,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf will highlight the popular multi-race wager's six-race sequence (Races 4-9).
Anne Scott's Galleon Mast is scheduled to seek his third-straight running of the Millions Turf Preview in the mile turf race for Florida-bred 3-year-olds and up. The David Fawkes-trained gelding's two Turf Preview wins are also his only successes in his last 10 starts. Paco Lopez, who was aboard for those two wins the only two times he's ridden the son of Mizzen Mast during that period, returns to the saddle. Rancho Alegre's Monforte, who has won six of his last seven starts, will seek his third straight stakes score in the Turf Preview, which is carded as Race 5.
Arindel's Quinoa Tifah will look for back-to-back stakes wins in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, a mile stakes for Florida-bred 2-year-old fillies on turf carded as Race 7. The Juan Alvarado-trained daughter of Gemologist will seek her first win on turf after capturing the off-the-turf Our Dear Peggy at Gulfstream last time out. Live Oak Plantation's Sweet Souper Sweet will also seek her first win on turf which notching back-to-back stakes scores. The daughter of First Samurai is coming off an impressive victory in the Presque Isle Downs Debutante over a synthetic track.
A well-stocked maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds has been programmed between the two stakes races in Race 6. Todd Pletcher-trained Deemed Essential has been installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite off a strong debut effort over a sloppy Gulfstream Park West track Oct. 10. Lets Go Stable's daughter of Upstart rallied to finish a head off the winner at Saturday's 6 ½-furlong distance. Whisper Hill Farm LLC's Dance Awhile, a Ralph Nicks-trained daughter of Curlin; Al Rashid Stables LLC's Mizzen, a Juan Carlos Avila-trained daughter of Street Sense; and Harold Lerner LLC, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables' The Jokes On Me, a Kenny McPeek-trained daughter of Mshawish are scheduled to debut in Race 6.
The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for the 13th straight racing day Friday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $5,824.92.
The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
There will also be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $9,297.17 heading into Saturday's program.
The post $325,000 Rainbow 6 Jackpot Guarantee Saturday At Gulfstream Park West; Two Stakes In Sequence appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Another link to New England’s horse racing history will go dark this month, soon to be razed for development: Scarborough Downs on the southern Maine seacoast confirmed it will host its final Standardbred program Nov. 28, ending 70 years of horse racing at the venue that first opened as a one-mile Thoroughbred track in 1950.
The Portland Press Herald first reported the news, although the track’s demise had been signaled by a purchase two years ago by developers who have been rebuilding over adjacent property while letting the harness operators lease the track for racing and simulcasting.
The Press Herald reported the 2018 purchase price as $6.7 million. For comparison, the original ownership that founded Scarborough Downs paid $600 for marshland that the town of Scarborough had no other use for back in 1950.
“A scenic background of towering pine, spruce and fir make the track a real beauty spot, and while a few rough edges will have to be polished before it is completed, Scarborough Downs, with its natural beauty, seems destined to become one of New England’s popular tracks,” the Boston Globe reported on the eve of the grand opening.
Scarborough was a pioneer in Thoroughbred night racing in New England right from its first season, trying to capitalize on giving beach tourists something to do after dark on summer evenings.
But the track struggled to attract meaningful handle right from the start, and Maine’s strong Standardbred interests soon took the track to court to try and ban Thoroughbreds from competing under the lights against the evening harness meets (it briefly worked, but the ruling was eventually overturned). The track added Standardbreds in 1969, ran dual breeds at different meets, then ceased Thoroughbred racing on Labor Day, 1972.
The harness oval was downsized from a mile to a half-mile in 1973, although the Thoroughbred track is still visible in outline. Barn fires in 1980 and 1982 killed 14 horses, and the original clubhouse was consumed in a 1983 blaze. The record attendance for the Maine track was on June 29, 1980, when a crowd of 9,133 showed up to get autographs from Lou Ferrigno, the actor who portrayed “The Incredible Hulk.”
The Press Herald reported Thursday that “After Scarborough Downs stopped night racing in 2007 because the light posts had to be removed after the hub rail was removed for safety reasons, the crowds thinned even more. The grandstand fell into disrepair and was eventually closed to fans and the entire facility had a rundown look.”
Although harness racing in Maine is not high profile, it is rich in tradition (a Grand Circuit attraction on “kite” tracks in the early 20th Century) and it is still comprised of nine stops: Bangor Raceway (a racino), plus August-through-October county fair meets at Northern Maine Fair, Topsham, Skowhegan, Union, Windsor, Farmington, Cumberland, and Fryeburg.
The Press Herald reported that “Members of the harness racing community said the closing of Scarborough Downs could lead to a brighter future for the harness racing industry, mentioning that an unspecified group has begun plans to build a harness racing facility elsewhere in southern Maine, an important part of the state for harness racing because of its population base.”
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