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Noble Drama Seeks to Carry on Family Tradition at Gulfstream
8/3/2023
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $300,000
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Owner/trainer David Fawkes’ Noble Drama will seek to continue carrying on a family tradition Saturday at Gulfstream Park when the fan-favorite gelding returns to action in a stakes-quality allowance feature.
Bred and formerly owned by Harold Queen, Noble Drama has admirably faced a huge challenge while racing in the shadows of a couple of older family members, but the 8-year-old son of Gone Astray has managed to earn $821,582 during a 40-race career that has produced 10 victories, including seven wins in stakes and overnight handicaps.
Not too shabby, but hardly up to the standards set by his Grade 1 stakes-winning kin.
The Florida-bred gelding is out of Queen Drama, a stakes-winning half-sister to Eclipse champion Big Drama and a full sister to multiple Grade 1 stakes-winning Sheer Drama, both trained by Fawkes for owner/breeder Queen. Riveting Drama, an unraced daughter of Notebook whom Queen purchased for $36,000 at the 1996 OBS March sale, produced Queen Drama, Big Drama and Sheer Drama.
“When Mr. Queen bought Riveting Drama from the sale, he intended on running her. She bucked her shins, and he brought her home, never sent her back, and just bred her,” Fawkes said, “I would call her a blue hen mare.”
Big Drama, a son of Montbrook who earned nearly $2.75 million, was honored with the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Sprinter after capturing the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs. His talent was obvious right from the start while sweeping the 2008 Florida Sire Stakes Series before capturing the $750,000 Delta Jackpot.
Sheer Drama earned nearly $1.7 million during a 24-race career that included Grade 1 successes in the 2015 Personal Ensign at Belmont, 2015 Delaware Handicap and the 2016 Madison at Keeneland, excelling at distances from 1 ¼ miles to seven furlongs.
Noble Drama, whose favorite distance has been a one-turn mile, will cut back to seven furlongs for Saturday’s Race 9 feature for 3-year-olds and up, which drew a deep field of nine. Bobby DiBona-trained Big and Classy, whose six-race winning streak was broken in a second-place finish in the Smile Sprint (G3) July 1, is rated as the 2-1 morning-line favorite.
Ny Traffic and Mish, rated second and third on the morning line, were entered in Saturday’s race, but trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. doesn’t expect either horse will run.
Noble Drama will seek revenge on Michael Yates-trained Cajun’s Magic, against whom he came up just a half-length short in a one-turn mile allowance two starts back.
“It’s not the right distance for him, really, but the horse is training good and doing good,” Fawkes said. “There seems to be plenty of speed to set it up for him.”
Emisael Jaramillo has the call on Noble Drama, who was gifted to Fawkes by Queen this year.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $300,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool will be guaranteed at $300,000 Friday at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager went unsolved Sunday for the 13th racing day following a mandatory payout.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 3-8, featuring a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance for Florida-bred older fillies and mares on Tapeta in Race 7. Fernando Abreu-trained Gitana holds a wide edge on experience over her seven rivals in the race for non-winners of a race other than maiden, claiming or starter and for horses entered for a claiming price of $20,000. The 6-year-old mare has been first or second in 15 of her 33 career starts.
A mile-and-70-yard maiden special weight event for older fillies and mares on Tapeta precedes the feature. The seven-horse field includes a Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained first-time starter, Applause. The 3-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo, bred and owned by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC, has been training forwardly at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. Kara and Colleen, a Joseph stablemate, enters the race after finishing second and third on Tapeta in her two most recent starts. Christopher Duncan-trained To Thyself B True is expected to receive attention at the betting windows off her third-place finish in the Powder Break Stakes in her last start.
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.