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Sand and Sea Looks to Extend Streak in $100,000 Key West
12/30/2023
Mandatory Payout of Rainbow 6 Returns $31,356, Hi-5 Carryover Sunday
Fly The W Takes $100,000 St. Augustine
Impressive Debut by Born Noble
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – James Karp’s versatile Indiana-bred Sand and Sea, a winner on three different surfaces, goes after her third in a row and second straight at Gulfstream Park in Sunday’s $100,000 Key West.
The 1 1/8-mile Key West for fillies and mares 3 and up on the all-weather Tapeta course is carded seventh on a 10-race New Year’s Eve program that begins at 12:10 p.m.
Trained by Riley Mott, Sand and Sea has been third or better in seven of nine starts this year, three of them wins, including a 1 1/16-mile allowance against state-breds Oct. 31 at Horseshoe Indiana and the one-mile, 70-yard Orange Blossom overnight handicap Dec. 3 at Gulfstream.
“She’s doing super,” Mott said. “She came out of that last race at Gulfstream in very good shape. I was considering maybe giving her a little time off just to refresh and have her ready for the Indiana state-bred races for next year, but she came back so well and the Key West looked like a very nice spot for her. You’ve got to run them when they’re doing well.”
Sand and Sea won each of her last two races in front-running style by 8 ¾ combined lengths, taking the Orange Blossom by 3 ¼ under Paco Lopez, who returns to ride from the rail.
“That’s kind of been her style the last four or five races, just get out there by herself. We tell the rider to just let her do her thing, and she gets pretty brave out there on the front end,” Mott said. “Even going a route of ground, I think she ran a mile and [five-sixteenths] and a mile and a half on the grass and turning into the lane she was cruising along pretty easily.
“We’ll never take away that comes easy for her,” he added. “Hopefully she breaks like she normally does and gets out there and [Lopez can] let her be comfortable and see how far she can take them.”
In those distance races, Sand and Sea ran second and third behind Brendan Walsh-trained R Calli Kim, who extended her win streak to four races in the Nov. 12 Long Island (G3) at Aqueduct. Prior to that, Sand and Sea won an open one-mile allowance in August on the Ellis Park turf.
“She ran into a nice filly for Brendan Walsh a couple of times in a row, so her form was good. She was keeping good company, so hopefully she can continue on the right path for this upcoming race,” Mott said. “She’s a very versatile horse.
“She broke her maiden going five-eighths on the synthetic and won the other day going two turns,” he added. “She doesn’t mind going a real route of ground, whether it’s a mile and three-eighths or mile and a half, so she’s really cool horse to have in the barn. She gives you some options and she’s one that’s won on all three surfaces. She’s just a fun racehorse.”
Also in the Key West are Jan’s Girl, fifth in the Orange Blossom; Le Boiana, exiting a win at the distance on the Gulfstream Tapeta Dec. 22; Lady Arsinoe, trained by Mott’s father, Hall of Famer Bill Mott; multiple turf stakes-placed In a Spin; Implosion, Maria’s Revenge and Libretto.
Mandatory Payout of Rainbow 6 Returns $31,356, Hi-5 Carryover Sunday
A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 Saturday returned $31,356.08.
There was $1,310,794 wagered Saturday and a carryover of $96,592.
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 days’ pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. On mandatory payout days, the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettor with the most winners.
There will be a Hi-5 carryover in Sunday’s first race of $14,411.78.
Fly The W Takes $100,000 St. Augustine
Grey Oak Stables and Michael and Jules Iavarone’s Fly the W drove down the stretch between the leader Country Final and a rallying Me and Mr. C to win the $100,000 St. Augustine.
A 7-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper trained by Bobby Dibona and ridden by Luis Saez, Fly the W covered a mile & 70-yard Tapeta track in 1:37.67.
Fly the W has won has six of his last eight starts and 12 of 23 on the Tapeta.
Impressive Debut by Born Noble
Born Noble, a $725,000 yearling owned by St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by Todd Pletcher, made an impressive debut Saturday, drawing clear down the stretch, albeit a bit greenly, to win by 5 ½ lengths while covering seven furlongs in 1:24.47.
The son of Constitution, out of the graded stakes placed Ghostzapper mare Zapperkat, raced just outside the pacesetter Bonus Move before drawing alongside after a :45.83 half mile and then drawing away down the stretch.