Bettors have a lucrative $166,087 carryover in the Derby City 6 to chase Saturday for the 12-race closing day program at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
There is a mandatory payout in Saturday's 20-cent all-stakes Derby City 6, which covers Races 7-12 starting at approximately 3:50 p.m. (all times Eastern) because the Stephen Foster afternoon program doubles as closing day of the 38-day Spring Meet.
The jackpot was $166,087 at the conclusion of Friday's action.
All monies will be distributed Saturday to ticket holders with the most winners in the six-race series. Track officials estimate the force-out of Saturday's total Derby City 6 pool should eclipse $1 million with new money.
The last time the jackpot was paid was 16 race days ago on Saturday, May 29 – Stephen Foster Preview Day – when Churchill Downs had a mandatory force-out of the jackpot with a $150,655 carryover. That day's pool was $1,236,502 and the all-sources handle on the 11-race program eclipsed $14 million.
Takeout on the Derby City 6 is just 15% – one of the lowest multi-race wager takeout rates in American racing – and only costs 20 cents per combination.
Saturday's closing day sequence features 61 entered horses for an average of 10.2 entries per race:
Race 7: $150,000 War Chant, 3-year-olds, one mile on turf, eight entries
Race 8: $150,000 Debutante (Listed), 2-year-old fillies, six furlongs, 10 entries
Race 9: $150,000 Bashford Manor (Grade III), 2-year-olds, six furlongs, 11 entries
Race 10: $300,000 Wise Dan (Grade II), 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles on turf, 10 entries
Race 11: $600,000 Stephen Foster (Grade II), 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/8 miles, nine entries
Race 12: $150,000 Tepin, 3-year-old fillies, one mile on turf, 13 entries
In addition to the Derby City 6, there is a $14,384 Super Hi 5 carryover in the final race, the Tepin, which also must be paid out to the most winners.
The first of 12 races is 12:45 p.m. and the finale is scheduled for 6:27 p.m.
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.
Temperatures in the Pacific Northwest are expected to rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend, prompting several area racetracks to cancel race cards.
Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash. will not run as scheduled on Sunday, June 27, while Hastings in Vancouver, British Columbia has scrapped Monday's card, reports the Daily Racing Form.
Hastings has also pushed back post time on Tuesday, June 29, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific time.
This Saturday's Grade 2, $600,000 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs brings together a field of nine horses in the Breeders' Cup Classic division trying to earn a “Win and You're In” spot into the big race in November. Leading the field in terms of recent accomplishments is Maxfield, an earner of more than $900K in his career and the winner of six of seven lifetime races who enters the Stephen Foster off a win in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes in April at Churchill.
Chess Chief won the similar Grade 2 New Orleans Stakes in March, before a non-threatening third-place effort behind Maxfield in the Alysheba. Warrior's Charge is another who has had an excellent career, banking $887K, but his most recent win came in February of 2020 when victorious in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap. Visitant finished second in the Alysheba following a win in the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes and will certainly be on many a contender list.
South Bend won the Street Sense Stakes over the track as a two year old in 2019 and was winless in 12 straight before a strong allowance win in April. Sprawl just missed by a head in a three horse photo in the Blame Stakes over the track in his most recent race. Necker Island won his most recent race, also over the track just 20 days ago, but had not won prior to that since November, 2019 and has never won a stakes race. Empty Tomb rounds out the field, also going for his first stakes win and also having just won a race at Churchill Downs last month.
I'll start my win contender list with Silver Dust, who has a lot of mental ability to go along with his physical ability. This has resulted in 14 first or second place finishes in 31 dirt races and earnings of $975,677. Perhaps better still, Silver Dust has finished in the top three in eight of 10 career starts at Churchill Downs, winning twice. His best effort ever came over the track and was not a win but occurred when leading late and coming up a neck short of victory in the Lukas Classic Stakes in the fall of 2019, earning a very strong 113 ™ Equibase® Speed Figure in the process.
Putting that into perspective among the rest of the field, favorite Maxfield earned a 115 figure winning the Alysheba Stakes in his most recent race. In April, 20 days before Maxfield won the Alysheba, Silver Dust won the Ben Ali Stakes at the distance of the Stephen Foster even after a slow start and having to battle with two other horses the entire length of the stretch. Jockey Adam Beschizza rode Silver Dust to that victory and rides again which in my opinion gives Silver Dust a chance at posting the upset over likely heavily favored Maxfield in the race.
Maxfield won the first five races of his career including four stakes, the biggest of which was the 2019 Breeders' Futurity. Last season as a three year old Maxfield won the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in May but was unable to make the rescheduled Kentucky Derby in September. He returned off a layoff last December to win consecutive races including the Mineshaft Stakes with a then career-best 111 ™ figure. After a disappointing third-place finish as the heavy favorite in the Santa Anita Handicap in March of this year, Maxfield won the Alysheba Stakes on April 30 at Churchill Downs with authority, establishing a new career-best 115 figure while pulling away at the end to suggest he can run even better in the Stephen Foster.
Visitant won three of four races to start his career including the Alcatraz Stakes in the spring of 2019, then after two poorer efforts and a setback took 13 months off. Returning in the fall of 2020, Visitant got back into top form in his first two-turn race and second start of his comeback last December, then two races later in March won the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes at the distance of the Stephen Foster. Earning career-best 107 ™ figures in the comeback win in March and in the Kentucky Cup Classic, Visitant next squared off against Maxfield in the Alysheba and wasn't disgraced a bit when settling for second after leading for the first six furlongs in the race. The 110 figure earned in the Alysheba was a new best figure and he was four lengths clear of the third horse in a solid effort. Having run three “A” races in a row as a five year old, Visitant must be respected as a strong contender in this year's Stephen Foster Stakes.
The rest of the field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures, is Chess Chief (106), Empty Tomb (100), Necker Island (99), South Bend (102), Sprawl (111) and Warrior's Charge (110).
Win Contenders:
Silver Dust
Maxfield
Visitant
Stephen Foster Stakes – Grade 2
Race 11 at Churchill Downs
Saturday, June 26 – Post Time 5:59 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Eighth
Four Year Olds and Upward
Purse: $600,000
