New Year's Day Rainbow 6 Carryover
The 2015 portion of Gulfstream Park’s Championship Meet will kick off with carryovers in both the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and 50-cent Pick 5 wagers for Thursday’s New Year’s Day card.
With Starry Road (11-1), Wild Heiress (80-1), Charlie the Boss (14-1) and Enjoy the Show (10-1) winning four of the first five legs, each of the popular multi-race wagers went unsolved on Wednesday.
The Rainbow 6, covering races 5-10, will offer a carryover Thursday of $134,252.33 while the Pick 5 carryover for races 6-10 stands at $44,013.58 for the 10-race card, which moves to a 12:40 p.m. post time.
Five of six winners returned $22,532.30 in the Rainbow 6, and four of five winners paid $341.15 in the Pick 5. The Super Hi-5 in Wednesday’s finale was hit for $3,751.20.
Fast Falcon Flies to Allowance Victory
Making his first start in 10 ½ months, multiple graded stakes-placed Fast Falcon registered his first victory in more than two years coming from off the pace to take Wednesday’s featured fourth race at Gulfstream Park.
Trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito for Richard Pell, the 5-year-old son of Awesome Again swept past pacesetting favorite Street Babe around the far turn and sprinted clear to a 2 ¾-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile first-level allowance.
Ridden by Luis Saez, Fast Falcon hit the wire in 1:44.27 and paid $13.20 as the 5-1 fourth choice in a field of six.
“We’re very, very happy,” Zito said. “Obviously, you’ve got to thank your help. When a horse is away for [nearly] a year, you can’t do it all yourself. I give them a lot of credit for this victory, and thank Mr. Pell for his patience. He’s a wonderful horse and hopefully he can be around for a while.”
Fast Falcon broke his maiden at Pimlico on May 11, 2012 in his third career start, then went on an 0-for-18 streak that included a second place finish in the 2012 Dwyer (G2) and third-place finishes in the 2013 Suburban (G2) and Brooklyn (G2) handicaps and 2012 Travers (G1), where he was a neck behind dead-heat winners Alpha and Golden Ticket.
“One thing about Fast Falcon, he’s proved it all his career. It was amazing he was still eligible for a one-other-than,” Zito said. “He’s run in races like the Suburban and the Brooklyn and just got beat in the Travers. He can run with anybody. I’m glad we got this one over with. He’s got plenty of time to recover. One good thing is we’ve got the right guy that owns him, and I think we’ve got the right guy that trains him, too.”
After galloping out, Saez jumped off Fast Falcon just outside the winner’s circle. He and Zito looked over the horse, then Saez climbed back aboard for the winning photo.
Fast Falcon had not run since finishing third in a similar allowance spot on February 8 at Gulfstream. He now has two wins, five seconds, five thirds and $349,794 from 22 lifetime starts.
“Luis was a little apprehensive when he came back, but he’s fine. He walked back to the barn perfect,” Zito said. “He had this old injury, a suspensory type of thing. Hopefully, he didn’t pull it again. If it is, we’ll give him the time again. When you don’t run in [nearly] a year, it takes a lot out of a horse to get them ready. It’s a great way to end the year the right way and hopefully get it started again.”
Wild Heiress Lights Up Toteboard
Florida-bred filly Wild Heiress rated on the outside from post three, took the lead at the top of the stretch and pulled clear to an 80-1 upset of Wednesday’s sixth race, an $18,000 claiming event at one mile on the turf.
Coming off back-to-back ninth-place finishes where she was beaten a combined 45 ¼ lengths, Wild Heiress returned $162.40, $62 and $24.80 for a $2 wager. Just Got Out, at 10-1, edged 5-2 Stars Collide for a $2,022.20 exacta. The 3-7-1 triple returned $3,575.20 for $1.
Ridden by Diego Gomez, 4-year-oild Wild Heiress ran the mile in 1:37.92 and improved to 3-for-43 lifetime for owner Vanessa Alvarez and trainer Braulio Lopez, Jr.
Prado Returns from Layoff with Win
Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, sidelined following a December 23 spill at Gulfstream Park, made his return to riding on Wednesday, picking up a victory on Enjoy the Show ($22.60) in the ninth race.
Prado hurt his right hand and suffered a laceration above his right eye in the incident, where his mount, Equilibrium, clipped heels with another horse. Seventh in the current meet standings with 10 wins, Prado had missed three racing days.
Who’s Hot: Luis Saez picked up three winners on the afternoon, aboard Fast Falcon ($13.20) in the fourth, Charlie the Boss ($31.20) in the eighth and Perfect Tay ($) in the 10th. Apprentice Tyler Gaffalione rode two of the first three winners with Sweet Aimee ($3.20) in the opener and Rocket Star Red ($4) in the third.
Rainbow 6 Carryover: $134,252.33
Pick 5 Carryover: $44,013.58
Source: Gulfstream Park