gulfstream park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fighting Force Gets Clean Trip, Surprises Favorite In Not Surprising Stakes

Since being purchased privately last winter, Lea Farm LLC's Fighting Force had been blanked in three starts while racing under less-than-ideal circumstances. The son of Air Force Blue was due for some racing luck Saturday, and, boy, did he get it on his way to capturing the $75,000 Not Surprising Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Fighting Force ($14.60) received a dream trip in the mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds, benefiting from an extended speed duel between the favorites before surging to the lead at the top of the stretch and drawing clear by 3 ½ lengths under Samy Camacho.

“It was three races without a good trip. Samy said he was going to be patient and wait, wait, wait. It just worked out perfectly for us. We had a lot of speed in front of us and he got a good trip and the horse kicked on for him,” trainer Jeff Engler said. “It's nice when you dial it up and it actually happens.”

Fighting Force broke alertly from his No. 1 post to obtain a prime stalking position behind Bright Devil, the Mark Casse-trained 5-2 second choice ridden by Edwin Gonzalez, and King of Dreams, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, as a speed duel quickly developed and continued along the backstretch and into the far turn. After sitting off fractions of :23.28 for the first quarter and :47.50 for the first half mile, Fighting Force was angled off the rail on the turn into the homestretch before making a three-wide sweep around the tiring pacesetters on his way to a dominating victory.

The Engler trainee ran a mile over a 'good' turf course in 1:38.18. Perfect Silent Cat, the 23-1 longest shot on the board ridden by Wilmer Garcia, rallied from last in the six-horse field to finish second. Bright Devil held third, four lengths behind the runner-up. King of Dreams faded to fifth.

Fighting Force, formerly trained by Todd Pletcher, broke his maiden in December at Gulfstream, finished second in the Dania Beach, and checked in a close fourth in the Palm Beach for the principals of Coolmore before being privately purchased by Lea Farm. The Kentucky-bred colt finished off the board in the Cutler Bay after bumping at the start in his first race for his new connections. He went on to finish fourth following an extremely wide trip in the English Channel prior to finishing fourth in an optional claiming allowance, in which he sat off a slow pace and was unable to show the kick that powered him to victory Saturday.

“He's a nice horse. He does everything right. He trains good and eats good. He likes what he does,” Engler said. “Honestly, those last three races, if you go back and watch them, were just awful trips. He got stuck on the rail or just got behind horses and couldn't go anywhere. We always knew it was there. He just needed a trip and luckily we got it.”

Fighting Force may make his next start at Del Mar, where Engler is planning to send eight horses for the upcoming meet.

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Gulfstream Park: Nicoletti Handicaps Saturday’s Mandatory Payout Rainbow 6

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 will be held Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., with bettors' hopes of taking down a life-changing score riding high.

The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot stands at $464,802.90 going into Saturday's 12-race program that gets under way at 12:20 p.m. The pool is expected to grow to $2.5 million Saturday or more after Rainbow 6 betting.

The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for the 14 racing days since a lucky ticketholder broke the jackpot May 29 for a $400,000 payoff.

Gulfstream host and analyst Ron Nicoletti gives his Rainbow 6 ticket with a best bet and longshot

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.

The $75,000 Not Surprising, a stakes for 3-year-olds scheduled for a mile on turf, will be featured on Saturday's program, as well as the mandatory payout that is always popular with bettors looking for a big payday.

The search for a 'single' in Saturday's Rainbow 6 sequence (Races 7-12), may prove to be challenge for handicappers. The sequence will be kicked off by a $12,500 maiden claiming race for 3-year-olds and up. The 5 ½-furlong dash that drew a field of 10 will likely be a popular 'spread race.'

Race 8 is a starter optional claiming allowance scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf. Efren Loza Jr.-trained Kartano, who finished a close third in the English Channel last time out, is rated as the 7-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 10. Tellington, who finished second in his first start for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., is likely to be included in many Rainbow 6 tickets. Should the Race be taken off the turf, Gods Promise, the only main-track only entrant, is slated to make his first start for trainer Jorge Delgado, who has been deadly with horses off the claim.

A $16,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs follows in Race 9. Kathern's Joy, who missed earning his diploma by a neck against slightly weaker company, is rated as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in a field of nine. Boldness, who had a troubled trip from the rail post in his debut against better, may be viewed as a solid value play for bettors who are fans of trainer David Fawkes.

Saffie Joseph Jr. figures to be well-represented in Race 10 weather the $12,500 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up stays on turf or is moved to the main track. Calabash will be looking to make amends after finishing an even fourth at 3-5 in his first start for Joseph. Berhanu, a main-track-only entrant, rated at 5-2, is slated for a drop from $25,000 company.

Union Gap has shown he knows how to win, having won three in a row but the 5-2 morning-line favorite is slated to jump from the bottom level to the $12,500 claiming level for Race 11, a mile race for 3-year-olds and up.

The Rainbow 6 sequence concludes in Race 12, a $12,500 maiden claimer for 3-year-olds and up that is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Kick in the Gas, the 8-5 morning-line favorite formerly trained by Christophe Clement, drops from a fourth-place finish in his April 10 debut against $35,000 maiden claimers. With no main-track-entrants, handicapping the race should prove most testing should the race be moved to the main track.

Another Rainbow 6 mandatory payout is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30, on the final program of the fiscal year. A racing card will also be conducted on Thursday, July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. There will be no live racing next Friday leading up to the Fourth of July Weekend. The holiday weekend will be highlighted by the Summit of Speed program on Saturday, July 3, featuring the $350,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (G2), a seven-furlong Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' sprint for fillies and mares; the $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3), a six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds and up; and the $100,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up, Sunday, July 4.

NOTE: Trainer Kathleen O'Connell sent three horses to the track Friday and all three were winners. O'Connell won with Well Defined ($3.20) in the second, World Gone Wild ($9.80) in the sixth and Gingeronmymind ($12) in the ninth.

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Jeff Engler Making The Most Of Move To Gulfstream Park

Jeff Engler has turned an unfortunate situation into a very positive career move to Gulfstream Park, where the veteran trainer is scheduled to saddle Lea Farms LLC's Fighting Force for a start in the $75,000 Not Surprising Stakes.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native, like too many trainers in North America, was faced with a long period of inactivity last year due to the emerging Covid-19 pandemic. Taking the threat very seriously, he chose to be proactive and would eventually find his way to Gulfstream, one of the few racetracks able to conduct racing uninterrupted during the early months of the pandemic.

“We were at Fair Grounds, and we shipped out early, because I didn't want to get stuck there – which everybody did. We shipped into Keeneland; we were actually the last truck allowed into Keeneland. We stayed there, but we didn't have anywhere to run,” Engler recalled. “I started calling [Vice President of Racing Operations] Mike [Lakow] here at Gulfstream and after about a month of begging, he let us come down and quarantine in Ocala before coming here. Once we got here, we loved it. We plan on staying.”

Engler, who saddled his first horse at Gulfstream May 22, 2020 after two months of inactivity, has settled in nicely at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. He currently trains a 25-horse stable that includes Willy Boi, the March 6 Hutcheson winner who is invited to compete in the $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3) on the July 3 Summit of Speed card.

“We love it here; we've been accepted. The racing office has been great. Everyone's been great,” said Engler, whose stable had previously raced on the Fair Grounds-Churchill Downs circuit for eight years. “We've done well. The owners are happy, and we plan on staying.”

Fighting Force is slated to face five other 3-year-olds in the Not Surprising [not including an main-track-only entrant]. The mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds is carded as Race 4 on Saturday's 12-race program that will also feature a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6.

The Kentucky-bred colt, who was privately purchased last winter from the principals of Coolmore, was previously trained by Todd Pletcher, for whom he broke his maiden, finished second in the Dania Beach and finished a close fourth in the Palm Beach during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet.

Fighting Force is winless in his three starts since switching barns after being virtually eliminated at the start of the March 27 Cutler Bay, enduring a five-wide trip to finish fourth in the May 8 English Channel and racing evenly while fourth in a June 4 optional claiming allowance. However, Engler is hopeful that Fighting Force will get a more favorable set-up in the Not Surprising.

“He just hasn't gotten a very good trip the last two or three races. He's been kind of bottled up on the rail. He didn't have anywhere to go [last time out] and when he got loose, he made a run, but it was too late,” Engler said. “I think if he gets a good trip and a good ride, he's going to be right there.”

Samy Camacho is scheduled to ride Fighting Force for the first time Saturday.

Victorias Ranch's King of Dreams, a second son of Air Force Blue in the Not Surprising, has finished ahead of Fighting Force while finishing second in the English Channel and leading from the starting gate to the finish line in the June 4 optional claiming allowance.

Emisael Jaramillo has the return mount aboard the Juan Carlos Avila trainee.

Bell Racing LLC's Fulmini and Gelfenstein Farm LLC's Siglioso enter the Not Surprising after finishing 1-2, respectively, in a June 3 optional claiming allowance for Florida-breds. Registered Florida-breds will be eligible for an additional $25,000 in purse money, with 70 percent going to the winner, 20 percent to the runner-up and 10 percent to the third-place finisher.

Gary Barber and Team Valor International's Bright Devil, a recent optional claiming allowance winner, and Shamrock Highlands Thoroughbreds' Perfect Silent Cat, a maiden, round out the main body of the field. Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Big Thorn, who won the off-the-turf Juvenile Turf stakes for Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park West last fall, is a main-track-only entrant.

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Gulfstream: Mandatory Payout Scheduled For Saturday’s Rainbow 6

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 pool is scheduled for Saturday's program at Gulfstream Park.

The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for the 13 racing days since a lucky ticketholder broke the jackpot May 29 for a $400,000 payoff.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed Friday for $650,000. Should the Rainbow 6 go unsolved, it will open up the possibility of a life-changing payoff for Saturday. Gulfstream's feature Saturday will be the $75,000 Not Surprising.

An additional Rainbow 6 mandatory payout is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30 on the final program of the fiscal year. A racing program will also be conducted on Thursday, July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year.

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