Track Superintendent Field Day To Be Hosted At Gulfstream Park In 2022

The 2022 edition of Track Superintendent Field Day will be held June 12-14 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. This will mark the first time the event, which debuted in 2002 at Philadelphia Park (now Parx Racing), has been held at Gulfstream Park. The gathering brings together track superintendents and staff to discuss best practices related to track maintenance, safety and operational issues for racing and training facilities.

“We are thrilled to be heading to Florida in 2022,” said Roy Smith, founder of the event and track superintendent at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino. “Gulfstream Park is a world-class facility with terrific racing surfaces, so it will serve as a great host for track superintendents from around North America and beyond.”

“The team at Gulfstream Park and 1/ST RACING is truly looking forward to hosting the Superintendent Field Day for the first time. Being committed to the safety of all our racing participants, we appreciate working together to continue elevating standards of safe racing operations through events exactly like this one. We hope to host more of these events at our 1/ST PROPERTIES in the future,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer, 1/ST RACING.

Thanks to the support of sponsors, including title sponsor Equine Equipment, the event again will offer free registration to all track superintendents and staff, with the only expenses being transportation and a discounted hotel rate.

“I always look forward to attending this meeting and getting the chance to share ideas and information with other track supers, so I'm excited to welcome everyone to Gulfstream Park next year,” said Tony Martinez Jr., track superintendent at the South Florida track.

“Track Superintendent Field Day always provides extensive educational information and networking, so we are proud to support this for the betterment of the industry,” said Steve Andersen of Equine Equipment. “The panels and speakers we bring together are instrumental in cultivating the superintendents of tomorrow and in building the skillsets of current supers. We urge tracks to send their key people to demonstrate willingness to invest in their future.”

In addition to the educational aspect, Track Superintendent Field Day has a charity aspect, and the 2021 meeting at Indiana Grand provided $500 donations to both the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and New Vocations.

“The PDJF and New Vocations are both tremendously important to our industry, so we are happy to do our part in helping to support them with these donations,” said Smith. “We had a great event this year and being able to give back to the industry makes it even better.”

More information regarding registration and the agenda will be forthcoming at tracksupers.com.

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‘Better Than Normal’ Noble Drama To Take A Shot In Charles Town Classic

Although Harold Queen's Noble Drama would have been looked upon as a 'sure thing' by many bettors, the 6-year-old multiple-stakes winner with Grade 1 bloodlines will bypass a title defense in Saturday's $75,000 Benny The Bull at Gulfstream Park in search of graded glory.

“I'm thinking Charles Town,” trainer David Fawkes said Wednesday.

Fawkes has his sights set on the $800,000 Charles Town Classic (G2), a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for Aug. 27.

“I think he fits in there really well,” Fawkes said, “and I've won the race before.”

Fawkes saddled Duke of Mischief for a 2 ¼-length victory over Game on Dude in the 2011 Charles Town Classic. The Florida-bred son of Graeme Hall returned the following year to finish second behind Caixa Eletronica.

Out of a half-sister to 2010 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Big Drama and full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Sheer Drama, Noble Drama has won seven stakes and more than $700,000 in purses while racing in Florida, but the gelded son of Gone Astray came up short in only one graded-stakes opportunity.

“I just think this year he's gotten better than normal. He seems better than he used to be,” Fawkes said. “His comeback race was good and his second race is better. I just feel like he's doing really good and deserves an opportunity like that.”

Fan Favorite Noble Drama is 2-for-2 in mile overnight handicap starts since returning from a four-month layoff following his second-place finish in the $200,000 Sunshine Classic during Gulfstream's Championship Meet. He captured the May 22 My Name's Jimmy with a last-to-first surge before defeating a very talented field of rivals with another last to first score in the July 11 City of Dania.

In Noble Drama's absence, a field of seven veteran stakes performers has been assembled for the Benny The Bull, a seven-furlong stakes for Florida-breds.

Jacks or Better Farm Inc.'s Shivaree and Garter and Tie were entered Wednesday with trainer Ralph Nicks hoping that the homebreds can return to winning form. Shivaree, the runner-up in the 2020 Florida Derby (G1), is winless in four starts this year. Garter and Tie, a multiple-stakes winner who finished a troubled third behind Noble Drama in last year's Benny The Bull, is scheduled to make his 2021 debut Saturday.

Owner/trainer Kathleen O'Connell's Well Defined, who captured the 2019 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, is scheduled to seek his fifth victory in eight races this year in the Benny The Bull. Gary Barber and Michael Sebastian's Untitled, who finished second in the 2020 Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct, is set to come off a 5 ½-month layoff.

Owner/trainer Larry Bates' With Verve, owner/trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Silver Enough, IAB Stables and Walter Fralick's Quenane; Rodney Lundock's Pro Quality round out the field; and Hacienda Real Racing LLC's Travy Boy round out the field.

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Pudding Much The Best In Handicap At Gulfstream

During her five-plus years of training on her own, Elizabeth Dobles has demonstrated a deft hand in bringing out the best in old-warrior Thoroughbreds.

The proof was in Pudding Sunday at Gulfstream Park, in Hallandale Beach, Fla., where she saddled the 6-year-old gelding for late-rallying victory in the featured $60,000 handicap for older horses, three weeks after claiming him for $25,000 for herself.

Pudding's upset victory over odds-on favorite Double Crown in the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up was Dobles' second high-profile success of the weekend with a recent claim. Saturday, Dobles saddled Harry's Ontheloose for a triumph in Saturday's $60,000 Miami Beach Handicap at Gulfstream three starts after claiming the 5-year-old campaigner for $35,000 for Imaginary Stables LLC.

“Pudding caught my eye. He had won a couple in a row, and he had some back class. Those are the ones that I really get attracted to,” said Dobles, who has enjoyed success with veteran performers, War Story, Royal Squeeze and My Point Exactly, among others, in the past.

Pudding broke from the No. 1 post position and saved ground under Chantal Sutherland along the backstretch, as One Fast and Jackson contested the pace during the first quarter of a mile in :22.26 seconds. Double Crown, a multiple-stakes winner who has been graded stakes-placed twice, raced a few lengths behind the pace into the far turn before making a three-wide sweep to the lead on the turn into the homestretch, as Pudding remained trapped behind the tiring pacesetters at the top of the stretch.

Just as Double Crown appeared on his way to victory, Sutherland sent Pudding through an opening that had developed inside the 1/8th-pole, and the son of Two Step Salsa accelerated quickly to catch the favorite by three-quarters of a length.

“I thought we were in a horrible spot to be in, but when it opened up, it was heaven,” Dobles said.

Pudding ran six furlongs in a swift 1:09.94 to win his fourth straight race. Double Crown, who was ridden by Luca Panici, finished 2 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Tonalism.

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Rainbow 6 Jackpot $200,000 Guaranteed Friday At Gulfstream

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $200,000 Friday at Gulfstream Park.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved Sunday for the fourth racing day since a July 31 mandatory payout.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is 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.

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