Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Double Crown rallied from last to edge heavily favored Chance It in Sunday's feature race at Gulfstream Park, setting up a likely rematch in the $200,000 Smile Sprint (G3) on the July 3 Summit of Speed program.
Double Crown, who finished third in last year's Smile Sprint, had been idle since finishing second in the Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico Oct. 1. Shooting Star Thoroughbreds LLC's Chance It, the hero of the 2019 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series and winner of the 2020 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream, had been out of action since finishing fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) March 7, 2020.
Both horses were clearly ready for their long-awaited returns to action.
Trained by Kathy Ritvo, Double Crown ran six furlongs in 1:10.10 while prevailing over a very game Chance it by three-quarters of length.
“Kathy's done a fabulous job. Her staff, they always have these horses look good,” said Dean Reeves, who operates Reeves Thoroughbred Racing with his wife, Patti. “Kathy gets them ready for certain spots and you know when they go in there, they're going to run good. He was off a little while. We gave him time to grow a little, and now we're ready to go. It's hard sometimes as an owner to be that patient, but Kathy makes me be patient.”
Double Crown was also the recipient of a patient ride by Luca Panici, who notched his first victory since recently returning to the saddle following a three-month recovery and rehabilitation of a back injury sustained in a February accident.
“Luca rode a great race. He was patient and they finished up great,” Ritvo said. “Luca said the horse has a great mind.”
Double Crown dropped to the back of the five-horse field as Inter Miami outsprinted Chance It to grab the lead along the backstretch and went on to set fractions of 22.64 and 45.64 seconds for the first half-mile of the six-furlong optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Chance It advanced on the leader between horses on the turn into the homestretch and took the lead at the top of the stretch as Double Crown launched a four-wide drive that would carry him to his fourth victory in seven career starts. Chance It, the even-money favorite ridden by Edgard Zayas, finished 3 ½ lengths clear of Inter Miami.
Double Crown's victory was his fourth in seven career starts. The 4-year-old gelded son of Bourbon Courage won back-to-back stakes at Gulfstream last year before his graded-stakes placings in the Smile and Chick Lang.
Dean and Patti Reeves and Ritvo campaigned Mucho Macho Man, the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner.
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed at $400,000 when live racing resumes Friday at Gulfstream Park.
The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the fifth consecutive racing day Sunday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $8,382.04.
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 $41,456.72 heading into Friday's program.
Friday's card kicks off a four-day Memorial Day Weekend at Gulfstream that will offer three stakes – Saturday's $75,000 Musical Romance, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for fillies and mares; Sunday's $60,000 Biscayne Bay, a five-furlong overnight handicap on turf for fillies and mares; and Monday's $75,000 Soldier's Dancer, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up on turf.
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