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3,975th Winner Makes Gerald Bennett All-Time Canadian-Born Leader

Gerald Bennett saddled the 3,975^th winner of his career Friday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., becoming the winningest Canadian-born Thoroughbred trainer of all time.

The 77-year-old trainer saddled Tampa Bay Downs shipper Baby Boomer ($12.40) for a victory in Race 3 to pass Frank Merrill Jr., a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer who won 19 Canadian championships and led all North American trainers three times by races won, as well as winning four Gulfstream titles between 1955-1980.

“Frankie Merrill had the record for the amount of wins for a Canadian-born trainer. I'm Canadian-born. I raced at Woodbine and all over the place. I tied him today in the third race at Tampa. This breaks the all-time record for wins,” said Bennett, who saddled West Side Warrior for a win at Tampa before scoring at Gulfstream with Baby Boomer, who led throughout under Emisael Jaramillo.

Bennett, a Springhill, Nova Scotia, native, began his training career in Canada in 1976 saddling horses alongside Merrill, who passed away in 1990.

“Frankie Merrill was big in the claiming game. When you're young starting out, you said, 'I'm going to be like Merrill,'” said Bennett, who ranks 13^th on the all-time North America races-won list.

Bennett, who is once again dominating at Tampa with a meet-leading 55 winners this year, has gone on to be an exceptional claiming trainer but still hasn't given up on “every horseman's dream.”

“I just go and try to buy young horses. We haven't got to the Kentucky Derby, but we've won a lot of stakes here and there,” said Bennett, whose only Grade 1 success came with Beau Genius in the 1990 Philip Iselin (G1) at Monmouth. “I've never had anyone pay a lot of money for a horse. We usually buy for $17,000-$25,000 and hope to get lucky. Sooner or later, the harder you work, you might get lucky and someday get to the Derby. That's every horseman's dream.”

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Philip Antonacci, Son Of Harness Immortal, Celebrates First Thoroughbred Winner

Philip Antonacci grew up in one of the most prominent harness racing families, but he has always been fascinated by the world of Thoroughbreds.

His father, Frank Antonacci, whose Lindy Farms has won five Hambletonians, has been inducted into the Harness Hall of Fame's Hall of Immortals. Yet, the 26-year-old Connecticut native has opted for a change of pace and embarked on a quest to succeed as a Thoroughbred trainer.

Antonacci, who has worked for several of the world's most respected Thoroughbred trainers to achieve that goal, notched his first major milestone as a Thoroughbred trainer Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where he saddled his first winner, Advanced Strategy, in the mile optional claiming allowance feature on turf. Owned by Lindy Farms, Advanced Strategy was Antonacci's fifth starter.

“He'll definitely have a home forever, being my first winner,” said Antonacci, who has 15 horses stabled at Payson Park.

Although he has become focused on his Thoroughbred career, Antonacci has hardly left the Standardbred world behind. In fact, he is teaming with Jimmy Takter, the retired Harness Hall of Fame legend who has ventured into Thoroughbred racing to assist Antonacci.

“He's like the D. Wayne Lukas of Standardbred racing. He retired three years ago. He always had an interest in Thoroughbreds, so when I decided to go on my own, he said, 'I'd like to come along and help and assist. We can put our minds together and come up with our own training plan,'” said Antonacci. “He's at the barn quite a bit. It's been a great team effort.”

Unfortunately, Takter was unable to attend the races Saturday.

“I was on the phone with him. He's won a lot of Hambletonians, but he said he was relieved to get this one across the line,” Antonacci said.

Antonacci, a graduate of Godolphin's Flying Start program, became interested in Thoroughbred while attending the races at Saratoga and went on to work for trainers Wesley Ward, Australia's Gai Waterhouse and Todd Pletcher.

“I grew up summers in Saratoga, so that's when I started to get into it,” said the University of Pennsylvania graduate. “I actually started off working for Wesley at Saratoga. He helped me a lot getting started, and he's the one who introduced me to Gai Waterhouse, who put me in touch with the Flying Start program. If it wasn't for them, I never would have gotten started in the Thoroughbred game.”

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Gulfstream Park: Mandatory Payout Generates $3.5 Million Rainbow 6 Pool; $17,081 To The Winners

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 pool yielded multiple payoffs of $17,081.40 Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Rainbow 6 had gone unsolved for 11 days in a row since a mandatory payout on the March 27 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) program, leaving a carryover jackpot pool of $570,895 heading into Saturday's mandatory payout. A total of $3,578,504 was wagered Saturday on the popular multi-race wager.

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 Rainbow 6 starts anew on Sunday's 10-race card with a guaranteed $100,000 jackpot pool.

There will be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $20,591.80 heading into Sunday's card. The first race, a 1 1/16 mile turf event for maiden fillies and mares, has drawn a field of 10. Belle's Kingdom is 7-5 in the morning line.

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Mandatory Payout Saturday In Gulfstream Park Rainbow 6; Big Fields Expected To Fuel Large Pool

A mandatory 20-cent Rainbow 6 payout is set for Saturday's program at Gulfstream Park, where the pool is expected to swell into the multi-millions.

Saturday's Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 7-12, including full fields and four turf races, with a weekend forecast calling for sunny skies.

A full field of $20,000 claimers will kick off the Rainbow 6 in a mile turf event that will be identified as a 'spread' race by many handicappers. A mile maiden special weight race for 3-year-olds and up follows in Race 8. Todd Pletcher-trained Mr. Briggs, a 3-year-old gelded son of Super Saver, is scheduled to debut as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a field of eight. George Weaver-trained Road to Success, a 3-year-old son of Quality Road, is also slated to make his debut. Gustavo Delgado-trained Taita, a fast-closing second last time out, is among the most promising entrants that have raced.

A full field of $12,500 claimers in Race 9, a 7 1/2-furlong turf race, is likely to challenge the skills of Rainbow 6 handicappers.

A pair of optional claiming allowances will follow. In Race 10, a field of eight will contest the six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up, including Reservenotattained, the 2-1 morning-line favorite who had won three straight before finishing third last time out. In Race 11, Mystic Lancelot, a son of Into Mischief who finished a close second last time out, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the mile turf race for 4-year-olds and up.

The Rainbow 6 sequence will wrap up with a $16,000 maiden claiming race at 1 1/16 miles on turf, featuring a wide-open race that will include Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained first-time starter Raison the Glass and John Kimmel-trained Secrets Kept, a close second last time out.

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