By HorseracingFLA Staff
Thursday, Aug. 6 — Gulfstream Park drew entries late Wednesday afternoon for this Saturday’s 12-race card that will have seven stakes races.
Four of those races will be first legs of divisions of the Florida Sire Stakes Series. For the first time the series will have divisions for 3-year-old males and for 3-year-old fillies, as well as its long-standing divisions for 2-year-old males and 2-year-old fillies.
Gulfstream, as usual during its summer meet, will have racing from Thursday through Sunday this weekend.
Here’s what is on tap:
*Thursday — Ten races with first post of 1:15 p.m. There are no stakes races.
A main attraction will be a Rainbow 6 carryover that has grown to $114,990.61. The 20 cent-only per combination bet is on the day’s last six races.
The carryover has been growing because there have been 11 race days with multiple tickets that had all six winners.
Gulfstream pays out the full Rainbow 6 pool (day’s bets plus carryover) only on days when there is just one ticket with all six winners. On July 16 there was one winning ticket that paid $164,183.
On days when there are multiple tickets with six winners, Gulfstream pays out 70 percent of the day’s new Rainbow 6 bets to holders of those tickets. It adds the remaining 30 percent to the carryover.
If there is no single winner either Thursday or Friday, the carryover should be $150,000 or more heading into Saturday. If so, the Saturday card could attract more than $100,000 in bets on the Rainbow 6.
* Friday — Ten races with first post time of 1:15 p.m. There are no stakes races.
Saturday — There will be an early first post of 12:45 p.m.
The Sire Stakes races are:
* $200,000 Dr. Fager (2-year-old males) — six furlongs on dirt, 11th race.
* $200,000 Desert Vixen — (2-year-old fillies) — six furlongs on dirt, 5th race
* $150,000 Unbridled — (3-year-old males) — seven furlongs on dirt, 9th race
* $150,000 Three Ring — (3-year-old fillies), seven furlongs on dirt, 8th race
Beginning tomorrow, we will have previews of those races.
The Sire Stakes will continue with four races on Sept. 5 and conclude with four races on Oct. 3–all at Gulfstream.
The races are open to sons and daughters of Florida-bred and Florida-based stallions whose owners have nominated them as sires for the program and then make annual sustaining payments. Owners of horses nominated to run in Sire Stakes races also must make sustaining payments. Owners awards are paid to owners of sires whose progeny finish in the first three in a Sires Stake race.
The program is sponsored by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association in conjunction with Gulfstream.
It began in 1982 at Calder as the Florida Stallion Stakes Series, and was held at that track under that name through 2013.
It moved to Gulfstream as the Sire Stakes last year. In addition to raising purses for the 2-year-old races, Gulfstream worked with the FTBOA to establish the 3-year-old program.
Gulfstream is in its third year of summer racing.
P.J. Campo, Gulfstream vice president and general manager, said the expansion of the Sire Stakes shows the track’s commitment to Florida’s breeding program–noting that Florida-breds are of particular importance to Gulfstream during its spring and summer meets.
“We have built the best program for 2-year-olds in the history of Florida racing,” Campo said. “Since April we have had more 2-year-old races than any track in the country.”
Gulfstream’s other three stakes races on Saturday’s card are:
* $75,000 Jackson Bend — seven furlongs on dirt for Florida-bred 3-year-olds
* Eight Miles East — 1 1/16 miles on turf for males 3-years-old and up, 4th race.
* $75,000 Soaring Softly — one mile on turf for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up, 10th race.
* Sunday — Entries will be drawn on Thursday afternoon. First post time will be 1:15 p.m.
The Condition Book shows no stakes races. It is likely that there will be ten or eleven races.
