Race | Condition | Dist/Surf | Winner | $2 Win |
1 | StrAlw $50k | 8.0 | 1-Devoted Wildcat | $6.80 |
2 | Claim $6,250 | 6.0 | 2-Dixie Band |
$19.60 |
3 | OC $62k/N2X | 11.5 (T) | 7-Aqsaam | $4.20 |
4 | MdSpWt | 8.0 (T) | 7-Modest | $5.80 |
5 | MdSpWt | 6.5 | 2-Seve | $23.20 |
6 | Claim $30k, N3L | 5.0 (T) | 11-One Proud Girl | $18.20 |
7 | OC $75k/N1X | 8.5 | 2-El Padrino | $7.20 |
8 | MdSpWt | 8.0 (T-off) | 10-Coup | $3.40 |
9 | G2-Forward Gal | 7.0 | 5-Broadway's Alibi | $4.40 |
10 | G3-Holy Bull | 8.0 | 6-Algorithms | $7,00 |
11 | StrAlw $12.5k | 9.0 (T-off) | 7-Fly Angel Fly |
$6.20 |
2:27 PM: Fly Angel Fly finishes off the Gulfstream card with a romp over $12,500 Starter Allowance company in the final race.
After some good prices early in the card, a parade of short prices dominated the last five races. No horse paid more than $7.20 after race 6.
2:18 PM: The day finishes off with another "off the turf" race. I was looking forward to playing this race when it was on the grass with the temp. rail at 96 feet. Now? Eh, not so much.
I like 2-Coffee Run, sticking with my theme of the day of playing horses that have some form on wet tracks.
2:04 PM: A nice run by Algorithms to take the Holy Bull after Hansen threw down some insanely hot fractions. The opening quarter of 23.64 doesn't seem that fast until you consider that Hansen stumbled out of the gate. Throw in a 22.04 second quarter (and a 45.67 elapsed half-mile) and you had the makings of a tired horse at the top of the lane, regardless of how fast the slopyy track played in the Forward Gal.
Algorithms is an awfully nice looking colt, and one that could get better as he stretches out further. He's now a perfect three-for-three.
1:38 PM: Hansen getting pounded on the board (2/5) while the rest of the field all sit at decent prices. If you can beat the favorite you'll get a decent return. Algorithms is currently the second choice at 7/2
1:27 PM: Hansen's connections can't be too upset with the way the track is playing, especially in the last race when Broadway's Alibi ran off and hid from the rest of the field. We know Hansen loves to explode from the gate and open up early, something that could be a big advantage today.
1:25 PM: That was a laugher. 5-Broadway's Alibi crushes the Forward Gal at odds of 6/5.
1:19 PM: Grade 2 Forward Gal is up next and I'm keeping things kind of basic by going with the 1-Good Deed, a filly that has shown decent form on a sloppy track in the past. She's 4/1 on the board. Lots of speed in this one so she's going to have to relax in the first quarter mile to have a good shot.
The outside filly, 6-Say a Novena, also has some wet track form and she likes to come off the pace. The race might set up for her.
1:00 PM: The slop didn't deter Coup as she wins at odds of 3/5 in an off-the-turf one mile Maiden Special Weight
If you saw the HRTV interview with trainer Graham Motion prior to the race, you saw him state that they were unsure as to whether they were going to run this filly after the race was taken off the lawn. Motion said that they kept her in the race because he wanted to see her run on the dirt at some point. Good call on his part.
12:41 PM: Race 8 is off the turf, so forget everything I just wrote. Didn't see that they took this one off. Race 11 is also "off". Ugh. I hate races taken off the turf.
12:40 PM: Some scratches hurt the field in the 8th, another Maiden Special Weight on the lawn, this one for fillies at a mile.
10-Coup is taking all the cash (even money) and you really can't find a ton of fault with that given his last effort and the connections (Leparoux/Motion).
12:30 PM: El Padrino loves the slop. He eats the slop up. Too bad he got hammered down to 5/2.
12:26 PM: Main track now listed as "GOOD".
12:08 PM: Some nice prices at Gulfstream today as One Proud Girl is the third winner to pay at least $18 to win in the first six races.
12:04 PM: Back to the main track where the conditions have deteriorated due to some heavy rains at Gulfstream.
The 7th race is a very nice allowance/OC event at 8.5 furlongs. Given the track conditions, I like the 2-El Padrino. He ran huge at Belmont over a sloppy/sealed track and ran very well in the Remsen in his last start. 4/1 on the ML and hoping to get something near that at post time, although I have a hunch that's not going to hold up.
11:46 AM: Turf downgraded to "GOOD".
The temp. rail for the 6th race is at 96 feet.
11:44 AM: Good think I didn't play the 5th cause I wouldn't have been near the winner, Seve.
Race 6 is a turf sprint and I hate turf sprints... well, I don't 'hate' them, I just can't pick a winner to save my life.
11:12 AM: There are some nice looking three-year-old maidens in the 5th race. I don't have much of an opinion on this one but it should be interesting to watch.
11: 04 AM: Modest finally breaks through and scores a maiden victory in a front-running performance. It looked like the field was going to get by at the top of the stretch but Modest had enough in the tank to put them away. Moonstock came four-wide to challenge coming off the turn but flattened out in the lane.
10:44 AM: The fourth race is a one mile Maiden Special Weight on the lawn for horses four-years-old and up. 10-Moonstock was as $200k purchase at Keeneland, ran three times last January through March, and then sat on the bench of almost a year. Obviously, somebody thought this colt had some serious talent to drop a couple hundred grand on him, but he hasn't been able to stay in training for a very long period of time. He's 5/1 on the board and he's not facing what you would call a "tough" field; if he runs back to his form from a year ago (a big 'if"), or if he takes a step forward, he could be very tough to beat.
7-Modest is the 8/5 favorite but he's come up short time and time again in his recent tries. I don't like money burners, especially at short odds. I'll stay away from the chalk.
10:35 AM: Definitely a strangely run race; the less said the better. Aqsaam runs off early, comes back to the pack, gets passed at the top of the stretch, and them comes back to win. Odd, odd race.
10:12 AM: Strange little race coming up in the third - a 15 furlong 11.5 turf event with a field that contains very little in the way of horses proven at the distance (of course, you don't see many 'proven' 15-furlong mile and a half horses in America).
4-Woodford Belle is the only proven entry in this field at the distance (while racing in the UK) and she's a decent 3/1 on the board. 7-Aqsaam is the current 4/5 favorite (yuck!); she's a nice two-for-two in her career but has never run past eight furlongs. She's by Dynaformer, so there is plenty of stamina on the top side of the pedigree. Her dam has produced a mixture of sprinters and routes. If the odds were better she would be a tough call, but at 4/5, no way can I play her.
10:07 AM: And the 2-Dixie Band gets it done and pays handsomely. Nice. Very nice.
10:05 AM: We'll have to see the photo on that one...which I'm sure I'll lose, but Dixie Band charges hard to the front in the final furlongs.
10:01 AM: HRTV just announced that Gulfstream has sealed the main track. It's only sprinkling on track but, apparently, rain is on the way.
9:59 AM: Big price cut on the 4-Double Judge in the second at Gulfstream, and it doesn't take long to see why. Ran against $25k Claimers and lost by 11. Ran against $15k claimers and lost by over 14. Yikes. 28/1 seems a little low on this guy, but he's dropped about as low as you can go on the class ladder.
Current form on 2-Dixie Band isn't great, but as HRTV just pointed out, trainer Jason Servis is killing it first time off the claim. Over the last five years, Servis is 33-for-79 with horses 1st time off the claim. (64% In-the-money; $3.42 ROI) Dixie Band is around 8/1 on the board.
ORIGINAL POST: Today's Guflstream card, highlighted by the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, is just about to kick off. The Holy Bull is the 10th race on the card and is scheduled to go to post at 4:45pm Eastern. The race can be viewed on HRTV.
Track conditions are, at the present time, excellent (Fast and Firm) and there are no scratches to the Holy Bull field.
Scratches and Changes - Gulfstream Park (via Equibase)
Dirt: Fast
Turf: Firm
Rail: 36 ft (Race 3, 4, 8); 96 ft (Race 6 & 11)