Tag: Gulfstream Park

Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Sonny Leon is moving his tack to Gulfstream Park. He's returning to the US track he began his career on in 2015. (Image: Coady Photography)

Derby-Winning Jockey Sonny Leon Moves On Up to Gulfstream Park

When Sonny Leon came to the United States from his native Venezuela in 2015, the first place he put down his tack was Gulfstream Park. After winning his first race in only his fourth start, Leon went 3-for-his-next-67. He became an afterthought on the competitive South Florida circuit. An afterthought […]

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 […]

Laurel Park plays host to the first and final legs of the Stronach 5 wager. This is the last time The Stronach Group offers the cross country Pick 5 wager. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Friday Marks Bettors’ Last Shot at the Stronach 5 Cross Country Wager

Horseplayers get one more crack at the Stronach 5 Friday before The Stronach Group takes away the cross-country Pick 5 wager. Company officials announced Wednesday the Pick 5 wager featuring TSG tracks from California to Maryland will go on hiatus. Mike Rogers, acting president of the Maryland Jockey Club, said […]

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 […]

Jockey Paco Lopez, here piloting In Due TIme to a February allowance win, was suspended for 14 race days for his careless ride in last Saturday's Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Paco Lopez Suspended 14 Days for Careless Riding In Fountain of Youth

Jockey Paco Lopez was suspended for 14 race days by Gulfstream Park stewards Wednesday for careless riding in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. He was also placed on probation for the duration of Gulfstream’s Championship Meet. Lopez earned the suspension due to his trip aboard In Due Time, who […]

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 […]

Count Again is the likely favorite for the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Park, one of Saturday's 15 combined stakes races at Santa Anita and Gulfstream parks. (Image: Benoit Photography)

Derby Preps, Big ‘Cap Headline 1/ST Racing’s Stacked Saturday of Stakes

With two stellar Kentucky Derby preps and the iconic Santa Anita Handicap headlining 15 stakes races Saturday, Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park joined forces through their parent 1/ST Racing to create a massive race day for bettors. In what 1/ST Racing officials called “1/ST Saturday,” the two Stronach-owned tracks […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. picked up his 3,000th career victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

With Suspension Looming, Ortiz Wins His 3,000th Race

In a 24-hour span, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. epitomized the topsy-turvy, runaway rollercoaster nature of his chosen sport, claiming his 3,000th victory one day after receiving a five-day suspension for reckless riding. Ortiz captured his 3,000th victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park, piloting Order and Law to the winner’s circle in the […]

Letruska's victory in last January's Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic opened the gate on an incandescent, Eclipse Award-winning season. After Breeders' Cup disappointment, the 6-year-old mare opens her 2022 season at Saturday's Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Coady Photgraphy)

Eclipse Award Winner Letruska Ready for Her 2022 Return

The last time we saw Letruska, she was more human and less equine machine. The next time we’ll see the newly minted Eclipse Award winner is next Saturday at Gulfstream Park for the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes. The 6-year-old warmed up for her first race since the Nov. 6 […]

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 […]

Drain the Clock won last year's Grade 1 Woody Stephens at 7/1. A mainstay of Saffie Joseph Jr.'s barn, he opens his 4-year-old campaign Feb. 5. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Remember These Two Joseph Horses? Drain the Clock, Ny Traffic Return

Get ready to welcome back two familiar names from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn: Drain the Clock and Ny Traffic, both who return in the next month for campaign-beginning races. And after those two warm-up starts, the pair could meet in the April 9 Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct. […]

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 […]

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 […]