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Gulfstream’s Road to Royal Ascot Alumni Continue to Excel
7/9/2023
*Chilean Import Zarak Stakes-Bound Following Impressive Score *
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $125,000
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Gulfstream Park’s Road to Royal Ascot Royal Palm Series became an instant success the very second Crimson Advocate crossed the finish line first by a nose at Ascot Racecourse in the Queen Mary (G2) June 21.
Just five weeks earlier, the George Weaver-trained 2-year-old daughter of Nyquist had captured the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, a mile turf stakes for 2-year-old fillies that offered the winner a fees-paid berth into one of six juvenile stakes during the Royal Ascot meeting as well as a travel stipend.
While Weaver-trained No Nay Mets, the 3 ½-lengths winner of the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Royal Ascot qualifier, didn’t fare nearly as well the next day in the Norfolk (G2), but Gulfstream’s mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds has succeeded in producing a couple of promising next-out winners.
Reaper, an Arindel homebred who failed to live up to his dazzling debut on dirt while trying turf for the first time in the Royal Palm Juvenile, came back with a gutsy triumph in Saturday’s $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile over Prairie Meadows main track. The son of Brethren pressed the pace between horses along the backstretch and into the stretch before fighting back to prevail by a neck in the 5 ½-furlong sprint.
Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC and Harlow Stables LLC’s Mattingly, who debuted with a promising second behind No Nay Mets in the Royal Palm Juvenile, came right back to graduate in his next start on Tapeta at Gulfstream. The Florida-bred son of Bucchero scored a front-running 5 ¾-length victory at 5 ½ furlongs June 24.
Chilean Import Zarak Stakes-Bound Following Impressive Score
Trainer Amador Sanchez will be busy making stakes plans for Baalbek Corp.’s Zarak following the 5-year-old Chilean import’s impressive triumph in Saturday’s optional claiming allowance victory at Gulfstream Park.
The Chilean-bred son of Constitution withstood intense pressure while setting the pace into the stretch before asserting himself while drawing off by a length in the 5-furlong race on Tapeta. Zarak, who had finished second in his U.S. debut June 10, ran five furlongs in 56.49 seconds after setting fractions of 21.48 and 44.30 under Leonel Reyes.
“The owners want to run on the turf. Maybe, we’ll go to California. We’ll have to see what races there are for him,” said Sanchez, who ventured from Chile to South Florida in 2019.
Zarak, who was a Group 3-placed stakes winner in Chile, hadn’t run for a year and a half when he came up just short in his U. S. debut.
“He had a problem, but he is good now. He’s a very nice horse,” Sanchez said.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $125,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed at $125,000 Friday at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the fifth racing day Sunday following a mandatory payout.