Tag: Horseplayers

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $200,000 Thursday at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for five racing days following a jackpot hit for $42.893.

Thursday's Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 4-9, headlined by a well-stocked entry-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is represented by two fillies in a field of eight for the mile turf race. Impetuous Molly, a daughter of More Than Ready, is scheduled to make her 2023 debut after winning one of two starts last year at Woodbine. Scottish Symphony, a stakes-placed daughter of Mendelssohn, raced twice during the Championship Meet without a victory. Christophe Clement-trained Don'tlookbackatall, by Peace and Justice, is scheduled for her 2023 debut following a three-race juvenile season with a debut victory and a pair of fourth-place finishes in stakes.

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.

The post Gulfstream Park: Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed At $200,000 Thursday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday with racing from Aqueduct Racetrack and graded stakes action from Keeneland and Oaklawn Park.

The Cross Country Pick 5 requires bettors to pick the winner of five select races from tracks across the country. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country with each week featuring a mandatory payout of the net pool. The Cross Country Pick 5, boasting a low 15 percent takeout, offers sequences with races from Aqueduct Racetrack and partner tracks across the country.

The sequence kicks off at 4:34 p.m. Eastern in Race 7 at Aqueduct, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight for New York-bred fillies and mares over the inner turf course. The overflow field of 12 includes the well-bred Inflationary Trend for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. The daughter of Mendelssohn is out of the wining Sky Mesa mare Flash Act, whose dam is the multiple graded stakes-winner Missy's Mirage. Conditioner Christophe Clement will send out the pair of Orange Freeze, who finished third on debut in August at Saratoga Race Course, and Bomb Squad, who returns from a five-month layoff after finishing third in her debut over the Big A turf.

The action switches to Keeneland for the second leg in Race 9 [5:16 p.m.], the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington for sophomores. The 1 1/16-mile test is the final stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and awards 20-8-6-4-2 qualifying points to the top-five finishers. The Steve Asmussen-trained Disarm is currently in 26th place on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard after a last-out second-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby behind the Louisville-bound Kingsbarns. A win in the Lexington would give the son of Gun Runner a total of 60 points and a guaranteed spot in the Derby field.

Other contenders in search of their first graded stakes victory include Reinvest, who is undefeated through two starts for conditioner Timothy Hamm, impressive maiden winner Empirestrikesfast for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and the talented duo of maiden winners Demolition Duke and First Mission for two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox.

The middle leg will see a field of 12, plus three also-eligibles, sprint six furlongs over the outer turf in Race 9 [5:38 p.m.], a maiden special weight for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at the Big A. The Michael Stidham-trained Tufani makes her debut off an April 8 breeze over Fair Hill's all-weather training track where she covered five-eighths in 1:01.40. The daughter of Distorted Humor is out of the Mineshaft mare Windhoek, a half-sister to stakes-winner South Andros, who produced graded stakes-placed Private Creed. Chad Brown will send up Accept the Outcome by way of Gulfstream Park on the heels of a game fourth-place effort on Feb. 16 while the Bill Mott trainee Spelterini will look to graduate after three consecutive runner-up efforts and three other on-the-board finishes.

The penultimate leg features Grade 1 action from Keeneland in Race 10 [5:48 p.m.], the $600,000 Jenny Wiley for older fillies and mares traveling 1 1/16 miles on the lawn. A talented duo loom large for Chad Brown in multiple Grade 1-winner In Italian and Grade 2-winner Speak of the Devil. In Italian makes her seasonal debut after finishing a pacesetting second in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf over the same course in November. The daughter of Dubawi won two Grade 1 events last year in the Diana at Saratoga and First Lady at Keeneland. Speak of the Devil returned from a nine-month layoff last out to finish a close fifth in the Grade 3 Honey Fox in March at Gulfstream. She won the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile last year at its namesake track.

The talented field of nine also includes With The Moonlight, who has won two Group 2 events in her two outings this year for trainer Charlie Appleby; Pizza Bianca, winner of the 2021 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf for conditioner Christophe Clement; and Skims, winner of the Grade 2 Sands Point in October at Belmont at the Big A for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey.

The sequence concludes at Oaklawn Park with the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap [Race 9, 5:58 p.m.], a six-furlong test for older horses. The Chris Hartman-trained Tejano Twist scored a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Whitmore last out over the Hot Springs oval and earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. The in-form son of Practical Joke has hit the board in each of his last six outings dating to September.

The salty field of 10 includes Strobe, who has won 4-of-5 starts for Cox and earned a co-field-best 104 Beyer for a six-length optional claiming coup two starts back at Fair Grounds Race Course. Bill Mott trainee Candy Man Rocket looks to round back into graded form off two victories this season at Gulfstream Park, including a last-out score in the Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 25.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence will be available for download at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/cross-country-wagers.

America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct spring meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, April 15
Leg A: Aqueduct Racetrack, Race 7 – MSW (4:34 p.m. Eastern)
Leg B: Keeneland, Race 9, G3 Lexington (5:16 p.m.)
Leg C: Aqueduct Racetrack, Race 9 – MSW (5:38 p.m.)
Leg D: Keeneland, Race 10 – G1 Jenny Wiley (5:48 p.m.)
Leg E: Oaklawn Park, Race 9 – G3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (5:58 p.m.)

The post Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Features Aqueduct Races, Keeneland And Oaklawn Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The $500,000 Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap brings together a field of 10 sprinters and the biggest question among the group is whether Tejano Twist can repeat his visually impressive effort four weeks ago when victorious in the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes as the 9-5 betting choice. Three races prior to that he won the Steel Valley Sprint Stakes and with a win his career earning would exceed the $1 million threshold.

Candy Man Rocket is another recent stakes winner, having captured the Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes in his most recent race on Feb. 25. Edge to Edge hopes to improve off a third-place effort in the Whitmore, as does Whitmore eighth-place finisher Cogburn. Another horse proven in similar stakes is Surveillance, who won three stakes in a row at Fair Grounds from November through January including the Douglas F. Kenner Stakes in his most recent race. Radical Right finished second in both the City of Laurel Stakes and Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes before a troubled fourth in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap last month and appears to fit with this group. Pirate Rick is winless in four recent stakes tries while Strobe and Skelly both enter a stakes for the first time off wins at lower levels. Payne finished second in the Speightstown Sprint Stakes last May and has finished first or second in his last three races.

Analysis and Main win contenders:

The early pace of this race should be contested and much faster than average and appears to be highly likely to determine the winner. We start with Edge to Edge, who has led from the start in three straight races, winning two of the three. He draws the rail and that position makes it imperative he has to try to lead from the start, particularly with four other horses having the same style. However, Edge to Edge is unlikely to have the lead to himself because Skelly has also earned his last two wins leading from start to finish and has drawn the post right next to Edge to Edge in the gate.

Then there's Pirate Rick, who has tried to lead early in his last eight races, winning the first four in a row in wire-to-wire fashion. More fuel for the fire is in the form of Cogburn, who has led after a quarter mile in all seven career starts. On the far outside is Strobe, who has won four of five career starts, each of them when leading from start to finish. It might only take two of the five to battle early, setting a much faster early pace than average even for this level of competition, in which case it should be pretty difficult for any of the early leaders and stalkers to have enough energy left to hold off horses who can come from behind.

With that in mind we should start with Surveillance as one horse that can win the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. After winning three of his first 19 races, something changed last fall when Surveillance first won the Thanksgiving Classic Stakes with a strong 103 Equibase Speed Figure, before improving to a career best 106 figure in the Richard R. Scherer Memorial Stakes in December. Four weeks later Surveillance won the Douglas F. Kenner Stakes. With his only start since that win on turf and irrelevant when assessing his chances for success back on dirt, that 106 figure effort from the Scherer Memorial is the one we should use to compare to the logical favorite, Tejano Twist, who earned a 113 figure in the Whitmore Stakes last month.  Setting aside that effort, Tejano Twist earned 107, 106 and 108 figures in his three starts prior to that. With that in mind, and knowing Surveillance will also benefit from the fast early pace, there is a chance he can post the upset win in this year's Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.

Tejano Twist has now finished first or second in 12 of 19 dirt sprint races but his best have all come since this past fall, when earning his first win after an 11-month dry spell. He's won three of four since, including the Steel Valley Sprint Stakes in November with a 108 figure before tying his career-best 113 figure last month in the Whitmore Stakes. In that race Cogburn and Edge to Edge battled head-and-head for the first half-mile before fading to third and eighth, respectively. Considering in this year's Count Fleet there could be as many as five horses battling for the lead from the start, it is very likely Tejano Twist will be coming on strongly once more and another big effort should be expected.

Payne has a very similar record to that of Tejano Twist, identical in fact with six wins and seven second-place finishes in his career. What's interesting is as an 8-year old, Payne has run some of the best races of his career. Claimed by Steve Asmussen for himself in November, Payne first finished second to Edge to Edge when that one was able to control the pace all alone from start to finish. Just the same, Payne earned a strong 107 figure, before earning a similar 105 figure winning a classified allowance race in late January.

In his most recent race on March 9, Payne rallied from sixth to make the lead with an eighth of a mile to go but was passed mid-stretch, ending up second. Being a beneficiary of the likely hot pace and having shown a fondness for Oaklawn, where he has never finished worse than second in three races, Payne is another with a strong chance to be mowing down the tiring leaders in the stretch.

Two more stalkers and closers should be considered but may be a cut below the three above. Candy Man Rocket has won three in a row including the Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes, but his best two figures are 102 and 100 which are fairly inferior to the 106 to 113 figures earned recently by Surveillance, Payne and Tejano Twist. Then there's Radical Right, who was favored in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap last month but who broke in the air as the gates opened. He finished second in the Palos Verdes Stakes prior to that in February with a 107 figure and finishing fast from fifth to second in the last eighth. As such he could grab a piece of the purse in this race as well.

The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase Speed Figures, is Cogburn (106), Edge to Edge (117), Pirate Rick (110), Skelly (111) and Strobe (114).

Win Contenders:

Surveillance
Tejano Twist
Payne

Saturday, April 15
$500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap – Grade 3
Race 9 at Oaklawn Park – Post Time 5:58 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs
4-Year-Olds and Upward

Ellis Starr is national racing analyst for Equibase

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