Pegasus World Cup Day Handicapping Report

Lopez Wins Four at Gulfstream

Paco Lopez rode four winners at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, giving him six in 16 starts in the three days since his return to the Hallandale Beach track.

His wins came on two favorites for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., one favorite for trainer Carlo Vaccarezza and a 9-2 shot for Armando De La Cerda.

That indicates he will be a top call rider for many trainers at the upcoming Gulfstream Park West meet at Calder and later at the Gulfstream championship meet.

Lopez, who has a large fan base in South Florida, spent most of the summer riding at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. He had 71 winners, finishing second to Jose Ferrer who had 95.

At the GP West meet, Lopez likely will battle Emisael Jaramillo and Tyler Gaffalione for most jockey wins.

Jaramillo rode one winner at Gulfstream on Saturday. He has 54 and leads the track's summer meet, and Gaffalione is second with 46.

Gaffalione rode at Belmont Park on Saturday, with no wins in six starts.

On Sunday at Gulfstream, Gaffalione and Lopez each have eight mounts and Jaramillo has six mounts.

GP Rainbow 6 Hit for $244,778.08

The Gulfstream Park Rainbow 6 had just one winning ticket on Saturday, and it paid $244,788.08 on the 20-cent only bet.

It was the only ticket with all six winning horses. The program numbers of those horses were 11-12-9-4-2-5.

Gulfstream will begin a new Rainbow 6 pool on Sunday. The 12-race card has a first post of 12:45 p.m.

The Rainbow 6 will be on races seven to 12 with the sequence scheduled to start at 3:52 p.m.

On Sunday morning, we will have an expanded version of this story in the main section of this Web site. It also will be on our blog, which can be accessed on the menu bar at the top of the home page of this Web site.

Gulfstream to Hold Claiming Crown Through 2021

Gulfstream Park on Sept. announced that it will hold thoroughbred racing’s Claiming Crown each year through 2021.

Gulcfstream has been the site of the Claiming Crown each year
since 2012. Gulfstream will hold it this year on Dec. 1, the opening day of its 2018-2019 championship meet.

The Claiming Crown is a nine-race program of stakes races
restricted to horses that have run at or below a designated claiming price at least once during the previous twelve months.The races have total purses of $1.1 million.

The event previously rotated among several other U.S. race tracks.
Total handle and national attention for the Claiming Crown has grown significantly since it has been at Gulfstream. Total handle for Claiming Crown day in 2012 was $11.115 million.

On Thursday a three-year extension of the Gulfstream-Claiming Crown contract was announced by Gulfstream, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA).

“We’re delighted to have the Claiming Crown back at Gulfstream through 2021,” said Gulfstream’s General Manager Bill Badgett. “The Claiming Crown has grown into an exciting event at Gulfstream and our fans look forward to kicking off the Championship Meet with this great series featuring many of the most popular horses in the country. We will continue growing this event along with our great partners from the National HBPA, Florida HBPA and TOBA.”