eye of a jedi | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mandatory Rainbow 6 Jackpot Payout Yields $41,039 Payoff Saturday At Gulfstream

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool yielded multiple payoffs of $41,039.94 Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The popular multi-race wager had gone unsolved for 21 racing days in a row following a $461,035.47 jackpot payoff Oct. 9 at Gulfstream Park.

There was one ticket eligible to take down the whole pool heading into the final race of the six-race sequence (Races 5-10) with No. 5 Spinning Kitten, who finished off the board.

The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is usually 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 usually goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory-payout days, the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence.

A jackpot pool of $450,473.78 was carried over to Saturday's program. Betting on the six-race sequence reached $2,048,201 Saturday.

The Rainbow 6 will start anew Sunday, the closing day of the inaugural Fall Meet, with a $75,000 jackpot pool guarantee. Sunday's first-race post time is sent for Noon.

Sunday's program will be co-headlined by a pair of $60,000 overnight handicaps at a mile – the Miami Gardens for 3-year-olds and up in Race 3 and the Opa-Locka for fillies and mares in Race 10.

Todd Pletcher-trained Fearless, who captured the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile last winter, is scheduled to come off a six-month layoff in the Miami Gardens. Rated as the 1-2 favorite in the morning line, the Repole Stable's 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper followed up his Gulfstream Park Mile score with a close second in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap and a third in the G3 Pimlico Special before going to the sidelines. Paco Lopez has the call.

Steve Budhoo-trained Eye of a Jedi, who captured the G3 Ghostzapper during the Championship Meet, and Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Girolamo's Attack, who captured the Oct. 27 Miami Beach Handicap, will challenge Fearless.

Joseph Jr.-trained Queen Nekia, also a graded-stakes winner during the Championship Meet, is scheduled to return from a three-month layoff in the Opa-Locka. The 6-year-old daughter of Harlington, who captured the G3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream, went on to finish fourth in the G1 Ogden Phipps at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and third in the G2 Delaware Handicap in Wilmington, Del.

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Ghostzapper Success A First In Graded Stakes For Eye Of A Jedi, Owner/Trainer Budhoo

Owner/trainer Steve Budhoo's Eye of a Jedi, who has beaten his share of graded-stakes winners, ran the race of his life in Saturday's $100,000 Ghostzapper (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., to win the first graded stakes of his career.

The Ghostzapper. a 1 1/8-mile race for older horses, was one of 10 stakes on a 14-race program featuring 10 stakes and headlined by the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa.

Already graded stakes-placed twice during the Championship Meet, Eye of a Jedi ($10.40) defeated favored Last Judgment by 5 ½ lengths while running the 1 1/8-miles in 1:48.83 and rewarding Budhoo with his first graded-stakes success.

Ridden for the first time by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the hard-knocking 6-year-old gelding was rated off a hotly contested pace set by Last Judgment and pressed by Superfecto during fractions of 23.60 and 46/43 seconds for the first half-mile. Castellano asked Eye of a Jedi for some run, and the son of Eye of a Leopard advanced steadily on the far turn to enter contention on the turn into the homestretch. Mike Maker-trained Last Judgement continued to show the way at the top of the stretch but proved no match for the fresher legs of Eye of a Jedi, who drew away to a comfortable victory.

Last Judgment, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Jose Ortiz, held second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Superfecto and jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

Eye of the Jedi, who finished second behind Tax in the Dec. 12 Harlan's Holiday (G3) and lost a photo in the Jan. 23 Fred W. Hooper (G3), was coming off a fourth-place finish in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Ghostzapper Quotes

Winning Owner/Trainer Steve Budhoo (Eye of a Jedi): “I love to train him for this track, because he loves this track. I had an invitation to go to Dubai for the [Godolphin] Mile, but because of the coronavirus, I said, 'I'll stay here.' I'm happy I did.”

“The good thing is sound. He's a very good horse.”

Winning Jockey Javier Castellano, Eye of a Jedi): “I'm really excited. Steve [Budhoo] is a great guy. He works hard. He's dedicated to every single one of his horses. It's nice to see good things happen for the little people. They make racing. I'm very lucky to ride this horse and win the race.”

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Heavily Favored Performer Edges Eye Of A Jedi In Fred W. Hooper

Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer returned to winning form in Saturday's $125,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., rebounding from a third-place finish that had snapped a five-race winning streak.

The Hooper, a mile event for 4-year-olds and up, was the first of seven stakes on Saturday's program that was headlined by the $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

Performer, who had finished third over a sloppy Aqueduct track in the Cigar Mile (G1) in his previous start, had to work for his second career graded-stakes victory. Sent to post as the 4-5 favorite in a field of eight, the Shug McGaughey-trained 5-year-old broke from the rail post position, but jockey Joel Rosario deftly eased the son of Speightstown off the rail while chasing Shivaree and Dream Maker as they dueled along the backstretch during a 23.20-second first quarter of a mile. Performer advanced on the tiring pacesetters on the turn into the homestretch with an outside run as Eye of the Jedi split horses to his inside to take a narrow lead into the stretch.

Eye of a Jedi put up a battle to the wire under Marcos Meneses but was unable to hold off the favorite, who prevailed by a neck. Avant Garde closed from last to finish third, 1 ½ lengths farther back.

Performer ran a mile in 1:35.49

Fred W. Hooper (G3) Quotes

Winning Trainer Shug McGaughey (Performer): “It looked like [he broke a step slow} but he got him in the right spot. He did say, 'I've got to go along. I'm looking at the two horses on the lead and they're going along pretty easy too. I better get busy here.' I was glad when he got him to the outside. He looked like he wanted to hang with that horse on the lead a little bit, but he was able to finish up.”

“That's way was in my mind, the Gulfstream Mile [Feb. 27], but after watching him today, I might be looking for something to stretch him out around two turns.”

Winning Jockey Joel Rosario (Performer): “He broke well and it really looked like [Shivaree] was going to take the lead and the other horse on the outside, so I kind of just let him be in that spot. I didn't want to fall too far back but be there in the race, because he broke good and he got the job done. He's a nice horse.”

“The other horse ran good, he was right there. For a second, I thought he was going to come back and beat me but my horse kept fighting, and all the credit to him.”

“It feels good to be back, even for one day. I'm glad to be here.”

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Tax Returns With a Vengeance In Harlan’s Holiday; Pegasus World Cup Next?

R.A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Hugh Lynch's Tax returned to winning form in Saturday's $100,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3), scoring a dominating 4 ½ -length victory while stamping himself as a prime candidate for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Harlan's Holiday, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up, was one of five stakes on Saturday's program, which was headlined by the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), a key prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

Tax, a prominent player on the 2019 Road to the Triple Crown, had been winless since capturing the 2019 Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga until he broke through with a dazzling front-running score Saturday that threatened the track record for 1 1/16 miles.

“We have really, really been high on him. We really thought he'd run big at Keeneland but he got sick on us and caused him to miss the race. I got really depressed about it because I was waiting to run him. Today, he showed up,” Gargan said. “I think this will be his best year. He's grown, developed. He's sound. He's bigger, stronger than he's ever been. I couldn't be happier with him today.”

Unraced since finishing fifth in the May 2 Oaklawn Handicap – his only start since finishing off-the-board in last year's Pegasus World Cup – Tax went right to the front under jockey Luis Saez after breaking from the No. 1 post position and was never threatened thereafter. The 4-year-old gelded son of Arch completed 1 1/16-miles in 1:41.15 while being under wraps for the final sixteenth of a mile, missing Social Inclusion's 2014 track record of 1:40.96 by less than a fifth of a second.

“I could feel that he was doing great. He was ready. He was pretty focused in the gate and he broke so sharp. He took the lead and controlled the pace and at the five-eighths, I felt like I had a lot of horse,” Saez said. “When we came to the stretch and he changed leads, he took off. He was very comfortable the whole way. I knew I had a lot of horse. We were just saving him for the next time. I could feel that we were going fast, but he was so comfortable. He loves to run, and we let him run.”

Next time could quite likely come in the Pegasus World Cup, in which he stumbled at the start and wasn't able to recover last year.

“I'll have to talk to Dean [Reeves] and Randy [Hill] and Hugh Lynch,” Gargan said. “I'm blessed that they're been so patient. He's only run two times this year. We turned him out and had a couple of misfortunes that we didn't get to run. Having great owners like those guys really helps you develop a horse into a good horse.”

Eye of a Jedi closed from far back to finish second under Marcos Meneses, a half-length ahead of 2-1 favorite Phat Man, who stalked the early pace under Irad Ortiz Jr. but was unable to mount a serious challenge.

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