Mind Your Biscuits Heads Gulfstream Sprint Field

Check any list of the country’s top sprinters and you will find Mind Your Biscuits near the top.

The now four-year-old colt gained that status with a breakthrough second half of 2016. He won major stakes races at Saratoga and at Santa Anita, and finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Grade 1) at Santa Anita.

On Saturday, Mind Your Biscuits will race for the first time at Gulfstream Park and will probably be the favorite in the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (Grade 3). 

The race is 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt for four-year-olds and up. It is the 12th race with scheduled post of 5:35 p.m.

First post is 12:00 p.m. for the 13-race card. It has two other stakes races and large guarantees on three late multi-race bets.

The Late Pick 4 (Races 10-13) will carry a $350,000 guarantee and the Late Pick 5 (Races 9-13) will be guaranteed at $250,000.  Both are 50-cent minimum bets.

The Rainbow 6 (Races 8 to 13) has a guarantee of $200,000.  It is a 20-cent only bet. The carryover coming into Saturday is $12,901.81.

If pools on any of those bets are lower than the guarantees, Gulfstream will put in money to reach the guaranteed levels.

The $75,000 Texas Glitter is five furlongs on turf for three-year-olds. It is the sixth race with scheduled post of 2:30 p.m.

The $75,000 Melody of Colors is five furlongs on turf for   three-year-old fillies. It is the 11^th race with scheduled post 5:05 p.m.

We will have coverage during the afternoon on our blog, which can be accessed on the menu bar at the top of this Web site’s home page.

The Gulfstream Park Sprint has a field of just six horses. But it has star power, with five horses that won major sprint stakes during the past twelve months.

Mind Your Biscuits won the seven-furlong Malibu (Grade 1) at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

* Delta Bluesman won the six-furlong Smile (Grade 2) at Gulfstream on July 2.

*Early Entry won the six-furlong Sunshine Millions Sprint, restricted to Florida breds, at Gulfstream on Jan. 21.

*Squadron A won the six-furlong Mr. Prospector (Grade 3) on Jan. 1 at Gulfstream.

*Unified won the seven-furlong Bay Shore (Grade 3) at Aqueduct on April 9.  He also won the 1 1 /8 mile Peter Pan (Grade 2) at Belmont Park on May 14.

Divine Warrior, the other entrant, will be seeking his first stakes win.

The field, with posts and jockey-trainers:
1 – Unified  (Jose Ortiz-Jimmy Jerkens)
2 – Delta Bluesman (Emisael Jaramillo-Jorge Navarro)
3 – Divine Warrior (Manoel Cruz-William Bradley)
4 – Early Entry (Paco Lopez-Kathleen O’Connell)
5 – Squadron A (Corey Lanerie-Dale Romans)
6 – Mind Your Biscuits (Joel Rosario-Chad Summers)

Look for Delta Bluesman to seek the early lead, with Unified and Early Entry tracking him closely and followed by Mind Your Biscuits in the race’s early stages.

--Jim Freer