Zayas, Crichton Win Titles at GP West Meet; Championship Meet Begins Wednesday

 

Edgard Zayas wrapped up the riding title at the Gulfstream Park West meet on Saturday, riding three winners on the closing-day program.

Meanwhile, Rohan Crichton won the GP West titles for trainer wins and for owner wins.

Saturday also was the final racing day in the 50-year history of Calder, in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Gulfstream Park has held the GP West at Calder  each October-November since 2014.

But Calder and its parent Churchill Downs Inc. are not renewing the lease under which Gulfstream has held those race meets.

Calder instead will use its jai-alai fronton as its qualifying pari-mutuel sport to retain eligibility for its casino.

Zayas, who captured the Spring/Summer Meet title at Gulfstream Park, prevailed over 2019 GP West  champion Emisael Jaramillo, 44-40. Zayas  regained the Gulfstream Park West title he had won in 2018.

“It’s a special one at Gulfstream Park West, especially since it’s the last one and at the track where I started in 2012,” Zayas said. “It’s one I was looking forward to winning, to be honest.”

His ride aboard the ultra-talented I Get It ($5) in the Race 3 feature placed an exclamation mark on the 27-year-old’s most recent title success. 

The Ron Spatz-trained daughter of Get Stormy surged from well off the pace at the top of the stretch to score going away by three lengths in the 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies on turf.

It was the third consecutive open-lengths victory for I Get It, who defeated colts by 3 ¾ lengths at Gulfstream Park West Oct. 18 after rolling to a five-length maiden score at Gulfstream Park Aug. 28.

Crichton captured his first GP West training title, edging defending champion Saffie Joseph Jr., 19-17.

A longtime owner in Jamaica, Crichton, who has been training in the U.S. since 2013, also won the owner’s title with six winners.

Gulfstream Championship Meet
Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., will open its 2020-2021 Championship Meet this Wednesday Dec. 2.

It will have ten races with first post of 12:35 p.m.

Gulfstream will hold the national annual Claiming Crown on Saturday Dec. 5. That race card will have nine stakes races--all restricted to horses that have raced at or below designated claiming prices at least once in their careers or at least once since Jan. 1, 2019.

Entries for the Claiming Crown races will be out on Wednesday afternoon.

Gulfstream's  championship meet will extend through March 28, with racing primarily on Wednesdays through Sundays.

Calder Closes Out 49-Year Racing History

By Jim Freer

The three-year-old gelding Diligent gained a place in Florida thoroughbred racing history on Saturday when he won what undoubtedly will be the final race at Calder in Miami Gardens, Fla.

That victory came in the tenth and last race on meet-closing day for Gulfstream Park West--the name that meet sponsor Gulfstream Park used for Calder each October-November since 2014.

Calder opened in 1971 and used the name Calder Race Course until 2014 when owner Churchill Downs Inc. changed it to Calder Casino.

There was a sense of history in Saturday's last race, in that Diligent is trained by Eddie Plesa Jr., a member of the Calder Hall of Fame who is among the top five in all time-trainer wins at Calder.

Saturday's tenth race also was the final leg of the Rainbow 6, which paid $6,234.36 on the 20 cent per combination-only bet. There were 390 winning tickets, according to Horse Racing FLA's review of Equibase charts.

Program numbers of the six wining horses were 11-3-3-6-11-4.

The Rainbow 6  had  a carryover of $347,617 for Saturday--with a guarantee that Gulfstream would pay it all out.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Calder was not open for spectators on Saturday and throughout the 39-day GP West meet. 

Thus, there was no on-track betting on GP West races, including the Rainbow 6, on Saturday.

But the attraction of the carryover generated Rainbow 6 betting of $2,608.241, through the combination of bets on Advance Deposit Wagering sites and at simulcast locations.

Saturday's Rainbow 6 handle was the second-highest for the GP West meet, according to HRFLA's data base.

The highest was $3,615,196 on Nov. 24, 2019.That was on  closing day of the meet, and there was an incoming carryover of $1,094,464 with a mandatory payout. 

On that day, there were 837 winning tickets, and each paid $4,781 on a 20 cent bet.

On Saturday GP West also had mandatory payouts (i.e. no carryovers) on the Late Pick 5 and on the Super Hi-5 in the last race.

Wagering on the Late Pick 5was $153,520. The payoff on a minimum 50 cent bet was $1,796.85. The number of winning tickets was not readily available.

The Super Hi-5 did not have a carryover going into the tenth race. Wagering was $24,901.  

Each ticket with the 4-3-6-7-1 correct order of finish won $6,804.60 on the minimum $1 bet.  There apparently were four winning tickets.

*Barring unexpected developments, Saturday was the final  day of thoroughbred racing at Calder which opened in 1971.

Calder and its parent company, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), are planning to not renew  a lease under which Gulfstream Park has held October-November race meets at Calder for the past seven years.

Calder last year opened a jai-alai fronton. It is  using jai-alai, rather than the leased racing dates to Gulfstream, to comply with a Florida law that requires a Florida pari-mutuel to have 40 race cards or 40 jai-alai programs a year to keep a casino license.

*On Wednesday, Gulfstream Park will begin its 2020-2021 championship meet at its track in Hallandale Beach, Fla. 

First post on opening day will be 12:35  p.m. for a ten-race card.

The meet will extend through next March 28--primarily with a Wednesday through Sunday schedule,

One Race Left at Calder

Projected (11) at 7-1 won the ninth race. on the final day at Calder .

In that race, the Super Hi-5 was hit by the combination of 11-5-10-9-1. It paid  $2,486.90 on the minimum $1 bet.

.There is no carryover on that bet in the tenth race.  But it might be worth a shot because having all five in order will not be needed for the payout.

Our pick to win is Call Bros (3) with Paco Lopez riding for trainer Joe Orseno.

Low Odds Winners Thus Far in Calder's Final Rainbow 6

Here are the winners (program numbers in parentheses) of the first four races in the Rainbow 6 on the final day of racing at Calder, which is using the name Gulfstream Park West 

5th race -- (11)Keep  Quiet  5-2

6th race -- (3)La Gata Negra  7-5

7th race -- (3) Pretendant  6-1

8th race -- (6) Rock with Robin 8-5

Coming in, the Rainbow 6 carryover was $347,137.   Bettors added $2,608,241 to the pool.

The payout will be approximately $2,43 million (80 percent of today's bet, plus the full carryover).  It will be divided among all tickets with all six winners.

Three of the first four legs were favorites. Barring a big odds winner in one of the last two races, there should be 100 or more winners.