Tag: Florida horse racing

Willy Boi beat odds-on rival Drain the Clock and four others to win the Grade 3 Smile Sprint at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old gelding is unbeaten in three 2022 races. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King)

Co-Favorite Willy Boi Leaves Them Smiling After Smile Sprint Score

Both Willy Boi and Drain the Clock left the Gulfstream Park gate at 4/5 for Saturday’s Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes, the first-among-equals undercard race to the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational on Gulfstream’s Summit of Speed program. And in this battle of chalk-vs.-chalk, Drain the Clock blinked first. Actually, […]

Champion sprinter Ce Ce returns to defend her title in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational. THe 6-year-old mare is the 4/5 favorite to repeat. (Image: Gulfstream Park)

Ce Ce Returns to Princess Rooney Seeking Another Coronation

The Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational played a key role in Ce Ce’s coronation as Champion Female Sprinter last year. And the marquee race on Gulfstream Park’s Summit of Speed card provides the perfect setting for the versatile mare to defend her title. Saturday’s $300K Princess Rooney is a seven-furlong […]

Drain the Clock hasn't won a graded stakes since holding off Jackie's Warrior in last year's Grade 1 Woody Stephens. He can end that streak with a victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher)

Drain the Clock Running Toward Good Vibes at Smile Sprint

The Grade 3 Smile Sprint is a race Drain the Clock needs right about now. A nice, low-pressure graded stakes race that should allow him to rebuild his confidence in familiar surroundings. Those surroundings are Gulfstream Park, where the six-furlong Smile Sprint is one of the featured races on Gulfstream’s Summit […]

Barbados native Saffie Joseph Jr. is a third-generation horseman. He ended Todd Pletcher's 18-year Gulfstream Park Championship Meet training title run this year with 58 wins. (Image: Sarah Andrew)

Saffie Joseph Jr. Snaps Pletcher’s String, Wins Gulfstream Training Title

The last time Todd Pletcher didn’t win a Gulfstream Park Championship Meet title, Saffie Joseph Jr. wasn’t old enough to drink. He was barely old enough to vote. But one day after Joseph sent White Abarrio to the Grade 1 Florida Derby title, the 35-year-old trainer captured the Gulfstream Championship […]

Simplification rolled past his rivals in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth last month. He is the 5/2 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Florida Derby. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Florida Derby: The Springboard to Kentucky Derby Glory

Why the Florida Derby is a marquee race on the Kentucky Derby trail, Part the First: Six horses this century graduated from the Grade 1 flagship race at Gulfstream Park to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. The six: Monarchos (2001), Barbaro (2006), Big Brown (2008), Orb (2013), Nyquist (2016) and […]

Classic Causeway won his second Tampa Bay Downs Kentucky Derby prep Saturday, winning the Tampa Bay Derby on a record handle day at Tampa Bay Downs. (Image: SV Photography)

Classic Causeway Helps Tampa Bay Downs Pull Record Handle

With Tampa Bay Derby winner Classic Causeway sweeping his way into the Kentucky Derby Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs destroyed its previous single-day record for total handle. Saturday’s total handle of $20,778,222 blew away last year’s previous mark by more than $5.5 million and by 36%. On the rare day that […]

With this easy victory in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs last month, Classic Causeway proved he's clearly the one to beat in the Tampa Bay Derby. (Image; SV Photography)

This Week on the Derby Trail Stops at the Tampa Bay Derby

As Kentucky Derby preps go, Saturday’s Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby doesn’t exactly provide the fast track to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle. You can get there from Tampa Bay Downs – if it was 2007 and you were Street Sense, that year’s Tampa Bay Derby winner. Or if you […]

Greatest Honour hasn't raced since finishing third in the Florida Derby 11 1/2 months ago. He has trained toward running in Saturday's Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. (Image: Dana WImpfheimer)

Challenger Reunites a Trio of Familiar Names on Comeback Trail

You may have missed it on Saturday’s Tampa Bay Downs card, but three familiar names return to the track for the Challenger Stakes. The $100,000 race is on the Tampa Bay Derby undercard. The 1 1/16-mile Challenger welcomes back Greatest Honour for the first time in nearly a year. It […]

Emmanuel won this December debut by daylight. He makes his anticipated stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

All Eyes are on Emmanuel to Drink From This Fountain of Youth

Emmanuel is on many Kentucky Derby watch lists as one of the colts to watch in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Horseplayers watched him win his first two starts by a combined 11 ¼ lengths. They watched him get bet down to 18/1 in Circa Sports’ Derby futures and […]

Classic Causeway and his front-running style come into the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes as the 3/1 morning-line favorite. (Image: Kentucky West Racing)

The Sam F. Davis: A Derby Prep Where Also-Rans Matter

Tampa Bay Downs’ first stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes is one of those races where you’re best served paying more attention to the horses outside the winner’s circle. Take last year. Candy Man Rocket won the race in typical Davis fashion. He […]

Mo Donegal already owns a two-turn victory. He goes for his second graded stakes victory as the 3/1 morning line favorite in the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park Saturday. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Holy Bull! Mo Donegal, Giant Game, Tiz the Bomb Keys in Derby Prep

Dale Romans was talking about his horse, Giant Game. But he spoke for all his fellow trainers in Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull when he distilled the meaning of this Kentucky Derby prep. “Like we say every year, this is the time for the 2-year-olds to turn into men and grow […]

Colonel Liam comes off a 239-day layoff in search of being the only Pegasus World Cup Turf repeat winner. He is the 3/1 favorite for Saturday's $1 million Pegasus Turf. (Image: Derbe Glass)

Colonel Liam Faces Tough Road to History in Pegasus Turf

Colonel Liam makes his bid for Gulfstream Park history from Post 6 as the slim 3/1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $1 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. Whether he can make it a successful bid depends on how the defending champion handles a 239-day layoff. The fourth edition of the Pegasus […]

Knicks Go opened his 2021 season winning the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational. He hopes to close his stellar career becoming the first repeat winner in event history Saturday. (Image: Gulfstream Park)

Knicks Go, Life Is Good Make Pegasus World Cup a Two-Horse Race

A “happy, fresh, and full of himself” Knicks Go will defend his Pegasus World Cup Invitational title Saturday on the rail as the 6/5 morning-line favorite. That’s the result of Tuesday’s post-position draw for the $3 million Grade 1 event. The presumptive favorite to be named Horse of the Year […]

Sir Winston shocked everyone but his trainer when he and Joel Rosario won the 2019 Belmont Stakes at 14/1. After a rocky 2020 and resurgent 2021, the 6-year-old horse takes his shot in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Can This Pegasus Trip Be What Belmont Champ Sir Winston Needs?

One trip abroad nearly cost Sir Winston his career. Another trip abroad saved it. And now, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner comes into Saturday’s $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational as a mature, fresh 6-year-old. His trainer, Mark Casse, thinks the son of Awesome Again could be awesome […]

This is what a $1.2 million winning Rainbow 6 ticket looks like. One lucky bettor solved Gulfstream Park's Rainbow 6 wager by picking six winners on Friday's card -- one day before a mandatory payout day. (Image: TwinSpires)

One Bettor Cracks Gulfstream Park’s Rainbow 6 Puzzle for $1.2 Million

One lucky/sagacious – depending on your perspective – bettor solved Gulfstream Park’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 Friday for more than $1.2 million courtesy of one of the longest shots in the field: Canelo. The 4-year-old gelding was making only his second career start in Friday’s 10th race, coming off a Dec. […]

Largent's biggest win to date was this 2020 score in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes. He returns for the first time in nearly a year for the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

Consistent, but Rusty, Gelding Largent Returns for Tropical Turf

Largent comes into today’s Grade 3 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream Park with name recognition, not just from his namesake – Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent – but from his track deeds. He comes in never having missed the exacta in 10 career races. And he comes in with […]

Gulfstream Park plays host to a $1.1 million guaranteed Rainbow Pick 6 on Wednesday's card. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Gulfstream Park)

Gulfstream Park’s Wednesday Pick 6 Jackpot Pool Hits $1.1 Million

Gulfstream Park has wasted little time in presenting horseplayers with the year’s first seven-figure betting opportunity, offering a $1.1 million gross jackpot pool on its 20-cent Rainbow Pick 6 for Wednesday’s nine-race card. Being a jackpot wager, the Rainbow Pick 6 is paid out when a bettor holds the lone […]

Strike Hard opens his 3-year-old campaign as a possible Kentucky Derby prospect in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Mucho Macho Man is the first of four Derby trail stops at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Ryan Thompson Photo)

Strike Hard Gets His Opportunity To Do That In Mucho Macho Man Stakes

If Strike Hard runs the same mile time in Saturday’s Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park he ran in a Dec. 5 Gulfstream allowance, the Florida spur of the Kentucky Derby trail will have a new force. Strike Hard won that allowance by four lengths, covering the mile in […]

Make It Big held off Osbourne in deep stretch of Friday's Springboard Mile at Remington Park. The half-length victory put the Saffie Joseph Jr. colt on this winter's Kentucky Derby trail in his native Florida. (Image; Dustin Orona Photography/Remington Park)

Make It Big Gives Trainer Joseph Kentucky Derby Trail Options

Make It Big did exactly that in Friday’s Springboard Mile at Remington Park, winning the Kentucky Derby prep by a half-length as the 6/5 favorite. More importantly, Make It Big gave trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. a new project for the new year: figuring out what’s next for his colt on […]

Junior Alvarado and Doswell glide to victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes. This turf test is often a good preview for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf next month at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)

Fort Lauderdale Upset Winner Doswell Could Fly to Pegasus Turf

Last year, Doswell followed Largent across the Fort Lauderdale Stakes finish line, falling short in the Grade 2 prep for next month’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. But the 5-year-old Giant’s Causeway progeny went gate-to-wire Saturday, capturing the Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream Park. That puts the gelding on the radar […]