Gulfstream Today 2.3.23: Little Jewel, Little Mike’s Sis, Graduates in Style

BY David Joseph —-

Gulfstream Today

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Michael Vaccarezza’s Little Jewel, a half-sister to 2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Little Mike, graduated in style Friday at Gulfstream Park.

The Carlo Vaccarezza-trained 5-year-old mare tracked the early pace before making a three-wide sweep into the stretch and drawing clear by 4 ½ lengths in Race 3, an $84,000 maiden special weight race for older fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf.

“Last time she came off a long layoff and ran really good. She broke good and found a good spot. I took my time and kept her in the clear. She did the rest,” jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “All the credit goes to her.”

The daughter of Liam’s Map, who had come off a 2 ½-year layoff to finish a close second Jan. 6, gave Ortiz his second of seven wins in a row on Friday’s program.

Little Jewel ($4.20) finished third in her career debut in a 5 ½-furlong turf race at Churchill Downs in June 2020 before going on hiatus. In her Gulfstream return, she recovered from early bumping to close swiftly in the stretch to miss by just three-quarters of a length.

“She’s a nice little filly. We were a little unlucky early on and give her some time. We knew she going to be a nice filly. She’s nice and healthy, and we’re looking to have some fun with her, for sure,” Vaccarezza’s assistant trainer Reynaldo Abreu said.

Little Mike won 14 of 30 career starts while amassing earnings of more than $3.5 million.

G3 Holy Bull Anchors Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Sequence

The $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) will be featured on Saturday’s 12-race program at Gulfstream Park, along with four other graded-stakes for 3-year-olds. The 1 1/16-mile Triple Crown prep will also anchor the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence.

The Rainbow 6, which will span Races 7-12, will have a guaranteed gross jackpot pool of $150,000.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved Friday for the third racing day following last Sunday’s mandatory payout of an $828,941.81 carryover pool that generated a Rainbow 6 handle of $6,265,823.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool

The Holy Bull will offer 20 qualifying points for this year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) to the top four finishers on an 8-6-4-2 scale.

Dale Romans-trained Cyclone Mischief is rated as the 2-1 morning-line favorite following a dominating 5 ¾-length optional claiming allowance victory at Gulfstream Park. Rohan Crichton-trained Legacy Isle, who was disqualified and placed second after finishing first in his third consecutive race in the Mucho Macho Man, is rated at 7-2, along with Bill Mott-trained Rocket Can, who is coming off a win and a second-place finish at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs.

Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Lord Miles, who is rated at 4-1, will break from the No. 1 post after finishing a fast-closing third in the Mucho Macho Man.

The Rainbow 6 sequence will be kicked off by an $87,000 optional claiming allowance in Race 7, a 7 ½-furlong race on turf with a full field of 12 older horses. Michael Maker-trained Shadow Sphinx, who finished off the board in the Fort Lauderdale (G2), is an 11-race winner who has been installed as the 2-1 favorite.

An $86,000 optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds follows in Race 8 going a mile. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will be well represented by Tapit Trice, who’ll make his Gulfstream debut after breaking his maiden gong a mile at Aqueduct, and Shesterkin, who won impressively at first asking in a seven-furlong race at Gulfstream Dec. 31.

The $175,000 Kitten’s Joy (G3) kicks off the stakes portion of the sequence in Race 8. Arnaud Delacoeur-trained Candidate and Pletcher-trained Major Dude, who finished 1-2, respectively, in the recent Dania Beach at Gulfstream, are most prominent in the field of eight in the 1 1/16-mile turf test.

Rusty Arnold-trained Red Carpet Ready enters the $125,000 Forward Gal (G3) with a 2-for-2 record that includes a 3 ¼-length win in a Churchill stakes. Chad Brown-trained Undervalued Asset, a sharp debut winner at Aqueduct last out; Carlos David-trained Lynx and Pletcher-trained Atomically, starts during the Florida Sire Stakes series, will also contest the seven-furlong sprint.

Pletcher-trained Cairo Consort, winner of the Ginger Brew last start, and Brad Cox-trained Heavenly Sunday, who is 2-for-2 in her brief career, top the field for the $175,000 Sweetest Chant, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies in Race 11.

The $125,000 Claiborne Farm Swale, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores, will be renewed in Race 6. Jorge Delgado-trained Super Chow will seek his fourth straight stakes victory as the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

Who’s Hot: Irad Ortiz Jr. rode the winners of seven races in a row to equal the Gulfstream record for most winners by a jockey on a program, sweeping Races 2-8.

Ortiz rode Dignified ($7.20) to victory in Race 2 to start his streak before also scoring aboard Little Jewel ($4.20), Lakota Territory ($5.60), Riveting Spirit ($7), Tape to Tape ($4.20), Rhymes Like Dimes ($4.40) and Six Minus ($7.40) in Races 3-8, respectively.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. saddled three winners, Max Swagger ($10.20) in Race 1, Riveting Spirit (7) in Race 5 and Rhymes Like Dimes ($4.40) in Race 7.

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