By Jim Freer
Today is the annual Festival Day at Tampa Bay Downs with the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade 2) and three other stakes races.
First Post is 12:23 p.m. for the 12-race card.
Gulfstream Park has two turf sprint races and large carryovers on the Rainbow 6 and Super Hi 5.
First post is 12:35 p.m. for the 12-race card.
Later this morning and this afternoon we will have previews and other coverage of both tracks, primarily on our blog and also on this Web site.
Tampa Bay Downs
The $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby is the 11th race with scheduled post of 5:24 p.m.
It is 1 1/16 miles om dirt and is a major prep and a points qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby (Grade 1), to be run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on May 7.
The first four finishers in the Tampa Bay Derby will receive 50, 20, 10 and 5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points respectively.
Brody’s Cause and Destin are likely favorites in the ten-horse field. We will have a preview story with analysis early this afternoon.
The $200,000 Hillsborough (Grade 2) is 1 1/8 miles on turf for fillies and mares 4-YO and up. It is the tenth race with scheduled post of 4:54 p.m.
Tepin, the winner of a Breeders’ Cup race and Eclipse Award last year, is the likely heavy favorite.
The $150,000 Florida Oaks (Grade 3) is 1 1/16 miles on turf for 3-YO fillies. It is the eighth race with scheduled post of 3:54 p.m.
The $100,000 Challenger is 1 1/16 miles on dirt for 4-YO and up. It is the third race with scheduled post of 1:24 p.m.
Gulfstream Park
The $75,000 Silks Run is five furlongs on turf for males 4-YO and up. It is the seventh race with scheduled post of 3:35 p.m.
The $75,000 Captiva Island is five furlongs on turf for fillies and mares 4-YO and up. It is the 11th race with scheduled post of 5:35 p.m.
There is a carryover of $2,944,675 on the Rainbow 6, which requires picking the winners of each of the last six races. Today it is on races seven through 12.
The Rainbow 6 is a 20-cent only bet. The carryover has been growing because Friday was the 42nd straight day without the carryover payout requirement of just one ticket with the winners of all six races.
The Rainbow 6 is a 20-cent only bet. The carryover has been growing because Friday was the 42nd straight day without the carryover payout requirement of just one ticket with the winners of all six races.
On other days, Gulfstream divides 56 percent of the day’s Rainbow 6 bets among tickets with the most winners and adds 24 percent to the carryover. The takeout is 20 percent on the bet.
On today’s first race there is a carryover of $25,95 on the Super Hi 5. It is a $1 minimum bet and requires selecting the first five finishers in correct order.
If there are no winning tickets, the entire Super Hi 5 pool carries over into the next race in which there are seven or more betting interests (i.e. starters).
