Diamond Oops, Carotari Top GP Turf Sprint Noms List Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $300,000 Super Hi-5 Carryover

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – In Due Time made a sweeping move to the lead at the top of the stretch and drew off to a 5 ¾-length victory in Friday’s well-stocked featured race for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park, stamping himself as a horse to watch on the Road to the Triple Crown in the process.

“We couldn’t have asked for it to set up better, Paco [Lopez] rode a good race and we have a nice horse,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “I don’t know if he’s a Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby [horse] or what we are going to do with him. All options are open.”

In Due Time ($23), a first-out winner at Monmouth in July before being given a freshener, finished third in his return in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance Gulfstream Jan. 8.

“Our game plan after Monmouth Park was to give him some time. He had a very tough race in his first race. And with time, if he were to be this good, we talked about being on the Derby trail,” Breen said. “But in his first race back he didn’t win, but he needed the race. We’ll see how he comes out of this race, but it was very professional. He did everything right.”

American Icon, the 4-5 favorite ridden by Luis Saez, set fractions of 23.27 and 45.78 seconds for the first half-mile of the mile race with In Due Time and Skippylongstocking in close pursuit. As Skippylongstocking pulled alongside the favored pacesetter, Lopez swung In Due Time three-wide, and the Kentucky-bred colt kicked in through the stretch to win comfortably in 1:35.97. American Icon, who was coming off an 8 ½-length debut victory Dec. 26 at Gulfstream, held second. Iron Works, the 2-1 second choice ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished third another 1 ½ lengths back after racing in traffic during the early going. Both American Icon and Iron Works are trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

Diamond Oops, Carotari Top GP Turf Sprint Noms List

Fan favorite Diamond Oops, a Grade 2 winner on both turf and dirt, and fellow multiple stakes winner Carotari head a list of 18 older horses nominated to the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) Saturday, Feb. 12.

Joining the Turf Sprint for 4-year-olds and up on the program is the $100,000 Ladies’ Turf Sprint for fillies and mares 4 and older, both contested at five furlongs.

Diamond 100 Racing Club, Amy Dunne, D P Racing and Patrick Biancone Racing’s Diamond Oops won the 5 ½-furlong Turf Sprint (G3) and six-furlong Phoenix (G2) on dirt in successive starts in the fall of 2020 prior to a sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).

Last year, the 7-year-old Lookin At Lucky gelding won an overnight handicap at Gulfstream before running third in the Smile Sprint (G3) and second in defense of his Turf Sprint victory before finishing off the board in the Keeneland Turf Mile (G1) Oct. 9, his most recent race.

William Branch’s Carotari returned from a two-month layoff to edge Group 1-winning millionaire Extravagant Kid in the five-furlong Janus Dec. 31 on the Gulfstream turf. The 6-year-old Artie Schiller gelding won Gulfstream’s Silks Run in 2020 and 2021 and ran third in last summer’s Troy (G3) at Saratoga.

Grade 3-placed Harry’s Ontheloose, Christophe Clement owned-and-trained multiple stakes winner Shekky Shebaz and DARRS, Inc.’s Extravagant Kid, respectively second, third and sixth in a Feb. 2 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream, are also nominated. Harry’s Ontheloose was claimed out of that race by DARRS, Inc. for $62,500 on behalf of DARRS, Inc.

Also prominent among nominees are stakes winner Belgrano, most recently third in the one-mile Tropical Turf (G3) Jan. 8 at Gulfstream; multiple stakes winners Francatelli and Warrior’s Pride; Gear Jockey, winner of the 2021 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G3); Toro Strike, a Group 3 winner in England yet to race in the U.S.; and 2021 Laurel Dash winner Xy Speed.

Stakes winners A G Indy, Ambassador Luna, Miss Auramet, Miss J McKay as well as Guardian Moon, undefeated in two starts but unraced since April 2021, top 19 nominees for the Ladies’ Turf Sprint.

A G Indy won the Senator Ken Maddy on the Del Mar Turf in November, opening her season off the board in the Inside Information (G2) on dirt Jan. 29 at Gulfstream. Ambassador Luna captured an off-the-turf Unbridled Sidney in 2020 and was second in the 2021 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3). Miss Auramet won the Lightning City and Politely last year, while Miss J McKay exits a victory in the five-furlong Abundantia Dec. 31 at Gulfstream.

Chris Larsen’s Guardian Moon, trained by Jorge Abreu, broke her maiden as a 2-year-old in August 2020 and went unraced until a 4 ½-length allowance triumph last April, both on grass against fellow New York-breds.

Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $300,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed for $300,000 on Saturday’s Holy Bull Day program at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for the four racing days following a mandatory payout on Pegasus World Cup Day.

The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 7-12, including the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the Race 11 headliner on a program with five graded stakes for 3-year-olds. Todd Pletcher-trained Mo Donegal, who won the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct last time out, is rated as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in a nine-horse field that includes Dale Romans-trained Giant Game, third-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), and Kenny McPeek-trained Tiz the Bomb, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).

The Rainbow 6 sequence is kicked off by the $100,000 Kitten’s Joy, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes, in Race 7, followed by the $100,000 Forward Gal, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies, in Race 8. A full field of older horses will contest a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance in Race 9, which will be followed by the $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for fillies, in Race 10. A full field of older horses has been assembled for a mile turf race for $16,000 claimers in Race 12.

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.

There will also be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $7,599.66.

Who’s Hot: Jockey Jose Ortiz and trainer Antonio Sano teamed for a double, scoring with Hannita’s Empire ($9.20) in Race 2 and Paintbrush ($13.40) in Race 8.

Julien Leparoux bookend winning rides aboard Unified Conquest ($9.80) in Race 1 and In a Spin ($22.80) in Race 10.