Thursday, June 30, 2016

Raunbow 6 Pays $3,234.24 at Gulfstream

The Rainbow 6 paid $3,234.24 for a 20-cent bet  at Gulfstream Park on Thursday.

By our calculation there were 232 winning tickets.

It was the final day of Gulfstream's spring meet and thus a mandatory payout day of the carryover plus 80 percent of  the day's new Rainbow 6 bets. There is a 20 percent takeout on the Rainbow 6, which is a 20-cent per combination only bet.

The carryover was $102,570 going into Thursday. Bettors added
$810,601 to the Rainbow 6 pool.  Minus the 20 percent takeout, winning tickets divided about $750,000.


The Late Pick 5 paid $818.60 for a 50-cent minimum bet.  Bettors wagered $83,484 on the Late Pick 5, on which there also was a mandatory full payout.

Flash Jak, at 3-5 in the ninth race, and First Salute,  at  5-2 in the tenth race, were the only two winning favorites in the late race  sequences.

Total wagering on Friday's ten-race card was $4,840,796.

Gulfstream will begin a new Rainbow 6 pool on Friday. It will  have nine races with  first post of  1:15 p.m

Except for mandatory payout days, Gulfstream pays out the Rainbow 6 carryover and 80  percent of the day's pool only when there is just one ticket  with the winners of  all  Rainbow 6 races.
 
Otherwise, Gulfstream divides  56 percent of the day's  pool among tickets with  the  most winners and puts 24 percent into the  carryover.
 

Rainbow 6 -- 976 Live Tickets, One Race to Go

The tenth  and final race is coming up at Gulfstream, with mandatory payouts in the Rainbow 6 and Late Pick 5.

There are 976 live tickets in the Rainbow 6, with no horses singled.

Thus far Flash Jak, at 3-5, is the only favorite to  win in the Rainbow 6 and Late Pick 5 sequences.

Tickets with all six winners will divide about $750,000.
Pioneer Pete, at 5-1, beat Tout Vient by a half length in Gulfstream's sixth race.

It was the first leg of the Late Pick 5 and second leg of the Rainbow 6.  Both will have mandatory payouts because Thursday (today) is the final day of Gulfstream's spring meet.

We are alive in our recommended Late Pick 5 bet, but out of the Rainbow 6 after our single Ginger Rush finished third in the fifth race.

In the seventh, we went  deep with horses 1, 4, 6 and 7.

Check out the PPs and you will be reminded that Heartbreaker Girl (4) and It's High Time (6) were impressive last summer as 2-year-olds.
--Jim Freer
 

A Look at Gulfstream's Late Pick 5

There will be no carryover Thursday (today) on the Late Pick 5 at Gulfstream.

If there are no tickets with all five winners, ticket with four of five will divide the full pool.

Here is our suggested 50 cent bet -- total $72.00

6th --  2  3
7th --  1  4 6 7
8th --  3 6 10
9th --   1  2
10th --  1   5    6

First Leg of Rainbow 6 Won by 5-1 Shot

Bettors added $810,601 to Gulfstream Park's Rainbow 6 on Thursday, as they sought out a mandatory payout on the bet.

The carryover was $102,570 going into Thursday.


Calling Me Home, at 5-1, won the fifth race (first leg) by a head over Pat's Courage.

Because there is a mandatory payout, multiple tickets with winners of all six races will divide about $750,000.  That is the combination of the carryover, plus 80 percent of  the day's bet.

There also will not be any carryovers on the Late Pick 5, starting on the sixth race, or on the Super Hi-5 from Thursday's tenth and final race
--Jim Freer

A look at the Rainbow 6

The fifth race is coming up at Gulfstream, with the start of  the Rainbow 6,

The carryover is $102,570. There is a mandatory payout,  even if there are multiple tickets with the winners of all  six races.

Winning tickets will  divide 80 percent of the day's new Rainbow 6 bet (20 percent takeout) and the  entire carryover.

Here is our recommended bet on the 20-cent only per combination Rainbow 6.  It  is an affordable $28.80.

5th --  3
6th --  2  3
7th --  1  4 6 7
8th --  3 6 10
9th --   1  2
10th --  1   5    6

Our ticket would have been larger  if not for the  scratches of Caribou Cat in the sixth  race and Revolver Sessions in the tenth race,
--Jim Freer

 

Gulfstream Underway With Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout

Racing is underway at Gulfstream Park for Thursday's closing day card of the 2016 spring meet.

The Hallandale Beach track will begin is three-month summer  meet on Friday.

A big attraction for Thursday is that there will be mandatory payouts--with no carryovers going into Friday--on the Rainbow 6, the Late Pick 5 and the rolling Super Hi-5. Details are in a story from this past Monday on our Web site.

Thursday's Rainbow 6 is on races five through ten. Scheduled post is 3:21 for the fifth race.  The carryover going into today is $102,570. 

At approximately 3:00 p.m., we will post a recommended Rainbow 6 bet on this blog.
--Jim Freer



 

Tampa Opener Won By 6-1 Shot

Sophia Sky, at 6-1, caught the 8-5 favorite Nina's Patience in deep stretch to win Thursday's first race at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Oldsmar, Fla., track has an  eight-race  card on the first day of its two-day Summer Festival  of  Racing. Skies are  clear, and conditions are fast for the dirt and firm on the turf.

Sophia Sky won the five furlong race by 1 3/4 lengths in 57.43 seconds.  It was a $16,000 maiden claiming race, with a $13,000 purse, for fillies and  mares 3-years-old and up.

Keiber Rengifo rode Sophia Sky for trainer Stacy  Lane Hendry.
--Jim Freer

Tampa Bay Set to Start Two-Day Summer Festival



Thursday June 30 is the first day of the annual two-day Summer Festival of Racing at Tampa  Bay Downs.

The Oldsmar, Fla., track  will have eight races  with first post of 12:35 p.m.

We will have coverage on this blog.

On Friday July 1, Tampa Bay Downs will have  eight races with  first post of 12:28 p.m.



Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Gulfstream to Average $4.6 Million in Spring Handle

Gulfstream Park will have average daily all-sources handle of just over $4.6 million for its spring meet.

That will be the fourth straight meet in which the Hallandale Beach thoroughbred track has achieved double-digit percentage handle growth.

Gulfstream will end its 60-day spring meet on Thursday, and begin is summer meet on Friday. The summer meet will extend through Oct. 2.

The $4.6 million average is through Sunday and is based on HorseracingFLA’s review of Equibase charts. That review also showed that Gulfstream averaged about 7.8 starters per race for this year’s spring meet.

Exact comparisons with Gulfstream’s 2015 spring meet are not yet readily available.

On Saturday, Gulfstream vice president and general manager of racing P.J. Campo told us that all-sources handle is up about 12 percent for the current meet. That indicates the daily average was about $4.1 million for last year’s spring meet.

This Friday, Gulfstream plans to release full-meet data that will have comparisons with the 2015 spring meet.  The comparisons likely will include breakdowns of components (live and off-site) on betting on Gulfstream races.

Turf Racing
One reason for Gulfstream’s strong spring handle numbers is that there were only four days when weather conditions forced it to take any races off the turf. As of Sunday, it moved a total of 12 races from turf to dirt.

Gulfstream ran about 55 percent of its spring 2016 races on turf—a surface that is popular with bettors partly because turf races usually have larger fields than dirt races.

Gulfstream plans to have about half of its summer meet races on its wide turf course.

During the meet all of its turf races will be on the outer part of the course, with rail positions between 72 feet and 108 feet. 

Gulfstream will refurbish its turf course during October and November, when it holds its annual Gulfstream Park West meet at Calder.

All-sources handle (total handle) is the combination of these bets on a track’s races: live on-site; simulcast betting at other-pari-mutuels and Off-Track Betting locations; computer and phone Advanced Deposit Wagering services; legal sports books in Nevada and in several off-shore jurisdictions.

Reasons for Increase
Throughout this year’s spring meet, Gulfstream officials have said the track is continuing to reach its goals in handle.

They note that spring and summer racing, which Gulfstream began in 2013, is becoming more widely accepted among simulcast and ADW bettors and that its roster of year-round trainers and jockeys is continuing to grow and strengthen.

Mark Casse, Ralph Nicks, Amy Tarrant, Chuck Simon and Michelle Nihei are among trainers on that list.  This year, Elvis Trujillo and Cornelio Velasquez began riding year-round in South Florida.

The handle increase at Gulfstream’s spring meet follows its year-over-year increases in average daily all-sources handle at these meets:

*2015-2016 championship meet –  $9.5 million, up 17 percent from $8.1 million

*2015 Gulfstream Park West meet — $3.6 million, up 20 percent from $3.0 million

*2015 summer meet — $4.4 million, up 16 percent from $3.8 million
 --Jim Freer and Barry Unterbrink

Monday, June 27, 2016

Tampa Bay Downs to Hold Summer Race Days on Thursday and Friday



Tampa Bay Downs will have eight race-programs this Thursday and this Friday, the two days of its fourth annual Summer Festival of Racing.

First post on Thursday is 12:35 p.m., with six races scheduled for turf. 

First post on Friday is 12:28 p.m., with seven races scheduled for turf.

Fourteen of the races are claiming, and two are maiden special weights. The purses range from $11,500 to $20,000.

Many of the entered horses have not raced since the regular part of Tampa Bay’s meet, which ended May 8.  The Thursday and Friday fields also have numerous horses that have raced this month at Gulfstream Park.

Most of the trainers and jockeys are Tampa Bay winter-time regulars who are coming back for two days from Gulfstream or from tracks in northern states.

Tampa Bay will officially end its 2015-2016 meet this Thursday June 30 and officially open its 2016-2017 meet this Friday July 1.

Every Florida fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30, and therein lies the reason why Tampa Bay has economic incentive to hold its two summer race days.

By racing each of those days and holding its regular race meet in between, Tampa Bay Downs is eligible to be a year-round host track for simulcasting of thoroughbred races from outside Florida,

As host tracks, Tampa Bay and Gulfstream buy signals from tracks such as Belmont Park and Churchill Downs and then re-sell them to other pari-mutuels in Florida.

After July 1, Tampa Bay Downs will be dark until Nov. 26 when it will begin its regular five months of racing.


We're All Set Wins Sea of Grass at Gulfstream



We’re All Set took the lead in deep stretch and held off the late-running Yourdreamsormine to win by a half-length in Sunday’s $75,000 Sea of Grass Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Abounding Legacy finished third, another half-length back in the 6 ½ furlong dirt stakes for Florida-breds 3-years-old and up.

We’re All Set, at 5-1. was ridden by Rafael Hernandez and won in 1:16.03 on the track listed as fast.

The victory was the first in a stakes and third in five starts at Gulfstream this year for We’re All Set.

Peter Walder trains We’re All Set for owners David Lengel, Norman Rader and Brett Brookman.