Souper Quest Turns Heads in Career Debut Thursday
2YO Homebred Colt Front-Running Winner of Turf Sprint
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $200,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Jet Set Racing Stable’s Super Corinto, a Group 1 winner in Chile, came with a steady run through the stretch to catch pacesetter Mish and hold off late-running Clapton and earn his first North American victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

Ridden by Hector Berrios for trainer Amador Sanchez, Super Corinto ($3.60) covered 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track in 1:43.25 in his second starts since coming to the U.S. He was caught late in running second behind Noble Drama in a similar optional claiming allowance going one mile Nov. 12 at Gulfstream.

“He needed more distance,” said Berrios, aboard for his prior start as well as his victory over well-regarded O’Connor in the 1 3/8-mile Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile (G1) April 30. “I tried to go to the lad but [Mish] he got there first.

“To me he needs more distance because he’s one-paced. Maybe in the Pegasus World Cup it will be different,” he added. “He needed more speed in the race. At the half-mile [pole] I was asking for more and I thought maybe I’d finish second, but he kept coming and ran like a good horse.”

Mish showed speed from the rail and led through a quarter-mile in 23.78 seconds and a half in 47.73, while Berrios settled Super Corinto in second while in the clear three wide. Super Corinto closed the gap after Mish went six furlongs in 1:11.50 and straightened for home with sights set on the leader, forging a short lead inside the sixteenth pole.

“I was not expecting to run so close to the lead, but as the horse broke very well [Berrios] decided to chase the leader more closely,” Sanchez said. “I think the horse runs better when he rallies from the middle to the back of the field, but I am very pleased with the way the horse responded today.”

Clapton stayed up for second, followed by Mish, Klugman, Laughing Boy and Jesus’ Team, who grabbed a quarter coming out of the starting gate and was never a factor.

Sanchez said he will point Super Corinto to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles Jan. 28 at Gulfstream. O’Connor, an impressive winner Oct. 16 at Gulfstream in his U.S. debut, is also headed that way.

“If the horse gets the invitation, he will run,” Sanchez said.

Souper Quest Turns Heads in Career Debut Thursday

Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Quest, a 2-year-old homebred son of multiple Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings, was an eye-catching winner of his career debut in Thursday’s opener at Gulfstream Park.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz in his return to South Florida, Souper Quest ($6.80) broke running and never trailed, covering five furlongs in 54.89 over Gulfstream’s new turf course to win the maiden optional claimer for juveniles by 5 ¼ lengths.

“He’s been working like he’s a nice horse,” Nick Tomlinson, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, said, “so I’m glad he showed it.”

Bred in Florida out of the War Front mare Lady of Victory, Souper Quest had shown a steady string of works since mid-October at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, for his unveiling.

Souper Quest outbroke the field and was quickly in front, posting splits of 21.22 and 43.48 seconds tracked by Island Swagger. Favored at 2-1, Souper Quest widened his advantage once straightened for home and had plenty left to repel a rallying Certain on the inside despite drifting down the lane.

“He’s always broken sharp in the morning, so that’s one thing we weren’t worried about. He’s still a little bit immature. You could see down the lane he was a little green, but he’s always shown the talent to be a nice horse,” Tomlinson said.

“Actually, we were working him with another Live Oak horse and we had to separate them just because he was beating up on the other horse. When he started working with some better competition he’s really shown that he’s putting it together,” he added. “Hopefully, he continues on this way.”

Team Casse added a second winner Thursday when Gary Barber’s My Sea Cottage ($4.20), racing for the first time since mid-March, sprinted clear to a popular 5 ¾-length victory in Race 5, a one-mile claimer for 3-year-olds and up. The winning time over a firm turf course was 1:33.02.

Friday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $200,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $200,000 for Friday’s nine-race program at Gulfstream Park.

First race post time is 12:10 p.m. 

The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for 11 consecutive racing days. Multiple tickets with all six winners Thursday were each worth $1,171.86.

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.

Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence spans Races 4-9 includes featured Race 7, an optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting seven furlongs on the main track. The 8-5 program favorite is Stonestreet Stables’ Favor, third in the March 26 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher making her first start since finishing fifth in the one-mile Wilton July 14 at Saratoga. 

Edward Seltzer’s Bluefield drew outermost Post 7 for his second start since being moved to Sunshine Meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The 6-year-old mare was a five-length winner in debut for her new connections, a six-furlong optional claimer Sept. 16 at Gulfstream in her most recent start.

Race 8 is a one-mile optional claiming allowance scheduled for the grass that drew an overflow field of 14 led by narrow morning-line favorite State Crown, a four-time winner racing second off the claim for Paradise Farms Corp. and trainer Mike Maker. Tamarindo comes in after finishing sixth by four lengths at 36-1 in the one-mile, 70-yard Cellars Shiraz Nov. 4 on the Tapeta at Gulfstream. 

Notes: Jockey Luis Saez doubled Thursday aboard My Sea Cottage ($4.20) in Race 5 and Whatchamacall ($) in Race 7 … Edgard Zayas also visited the winner’s circle twice, with Inspired Mischief ($19.40) in Race 3 and Pawky ($11.80) in Race 9.