Gulfstream Today 1.11.25: Ex-Claimer Ashima Scores in Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf

By David Joseph —-

Ashima the Sunshine Filly Mare Turf credit Lauren King
GULFSTREAM TODAY

1.11.25

Ex-Claimer Ashima Scores in Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $150,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Two starts after being claimed for the bargain price of $8,000 Wallace Moore Jr.’s Ashima became stakes winner on her first try with a front-running 1 ¼-length triumph in the $75,000 Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The 23rd running of the Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf was the first of two stakes for Florida-breds age 4 and up, followed by the $75,000 Sunshine Classic going 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Ashima ($17), a 4-year-old daughter of The Big Beast, was racing for just the fourth time on turf in her 13th start, and first in nine months. Her prior two starts were wins over Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta course, both going longer, including a 4 ½-length triumph Nov. 17 when she was taken by trainer Sal Santoro.

“I liked her and I just felt something towards her. I said, ‘You know what, we need to claim this horse,’” Santoro said. “All this horse wanted was, ‘I love you, too.’ That’s all we did.”

As they did in a front-running optional claiming allowance together Dec. 12, jockey Emisael Jaramillo got Ashima comfortable on the front end from outside all but two of her six rivals and settled through a quarter-mile in 23.36 seconds and a half in 47.16 tracked to her outside by 6-5 favorite Great Venezuela, riding a four-race win streak.

Six furlongs went in 1:10.45 with Ashima still in command, and put away Great Venezuela once set down for a drive after straightening for home and finished up in 1:33.73 over a firm turf course. Great Venezuela held second, with Princess Bettina third.

Love Mami Love, Maryquitecontrary, Beach Ready and My Sunny Valentine completed the order of finish. Parallel was scratched.

Dating back to last October, Ashima has now won four straight races for three different trainers, and improved her career record to 6-1-2 with $150,590 in purse earnings. Currently, she makes up the entirety of Santoro’s Gulfstream-based stable.

“Right now she’s my only horse,” said Santoro, who won the 2012 Delta Downs Princess (G3) and 2013 Honeybee (G3) and Fantasy (G3) with Rose to Gold. “I’ve got like five or six others that are probably coming in.”

JC Racing Stables’ Lightning Tones ($15.40), facing Florida-breds for the first time in his 26th career start, reeled in pacesetting One Sharp Cookie in deep stretch and edged clear to register a last-to-first victory in the Sunshine Classic.

Winner of the seven-furlong Carry Back in 2023 at Gulfstream for previous trainer Danny Hurtak, late-running Lightning Tones earned his first victory in three tries since being claimed for $16,000 last July.

One Sharp Cookie, racing for the first time since mid-October, was eager for the lead and held it through splits of :23.61, :47.48 and 1:12.21. Jockey Jorge Ruiz began to move up on the far outside leaving the backstretch, rolled up near the leaders rounding the far turn and closed steadily through the stretch to win by 1 ¼ lengths in 1:44.34 for 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track.

One Sharp Cookie held second, followed by 2-1 favorite Secret Chat, Shaq Diesel, Awesome Train, Souper Watson and Khozeiress. Defending champion Lure Him In was scratched, along with Power Humor, Belts ‘n Brooks, Holiday Pay and Big Martini.

3YO Colt River Thames Impresses in Career Debut Saturday

WinStar Farm, Siena Farm and CHC Inc.’s River Thames sat a perfect stalking trip before passing well-regarded 4-5 favorite Vanderbilt at the top of the stretch and drawing clear to a 4 ¾-length debut victory Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

It was the first of two victories on the day for the Hall of Fame team of trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez, followed three races later by Grande’s 9-1 upset in the day’s second maiden special weight for 3-year-olds.

“The colt had been training really well, so we were expecting a good effort first time,” Pletcher said. “He did everything right, put himself in a good position and finished up well.”

River Thames ($7.80), a $200,000 son of Maclean’s Music, settled in the clear three wide in third as Vanderbilt took the early initiative and was pressed through a :22.49 quarter-mile pressed by Pletcher-trained longshot Skate Away. River Thames drew up to even terms midway around the far turn following a :45.47 half, surged to the lead at the top of the stretch and continued strongly to finish up in 1:10.27 for six furlongs over a fast main track.

River Thames had breezed eight times since early November at Palm Beach Downs for his unveiling.

“We’ve always had high expectations for him. We had a little bit of a setback during the summer which delayed his debut, but he’s been training like he’d come out with a good effort to begin with,” Pletcher said. “I thought it was a competitive group we were running against today, a good field, and the final time was good. It seemed like he did it the right way.”

Repole Stable’s Grande ($20.60), a $300,000 son of Hall of Famer Curlin, dueled up front with 1-2 favorite Camp Hale through six furlongs in 1:11.21, put that rival away in mid-stretch and scored a 2 ½-length triumph in his debut.

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $150,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have an estimated pool of $150,000 when racing resumes Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence spans Races 5-10, kicked off by a claiming event for 4-year-olds and up going one mile and 70 yards on the all-weather Tapeta. David Fawkes-trained Forwardly is favored off the drop after posting a win, a second and a third in four prior tries on the synthetic.

Race 6 is a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds fillies at one mile on the main track that attracted a field of nine led by Madam Opus, a $700,000 daughter of Practical Joke making her career debut for trainer Chad Brown. She is one of three first-time starters in the field including Shadwell homebred Raghba, by Curlin, trained by fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

Fillies and mares 4 and up are scheduled to sprint five furlongs on the grass in a Race 8 optional claiming allowance where 5-year-old Bandonarun is entered to make her first start in 465 days and first for trainer Christophe Clement. The Uncle Lino mare won back-to-back turf sprint starts in the fall of 2023 at Pimlico and Laurel Park in Maryland before going to the sidelines.

The co-feature comes in Race 9, an optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs on the main track. The 9-5 program favorite is Juddmonte’s Suncroft, a 5-year-old homebred son of Arrogate racing for the first time since June 8. He has never been worse than third in four tries with two wins. Concrete Glory makes his 6-year-old debut off a 7 ½-length allowance win in mid-November.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is only 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.

Who’s Hot: Jockey Edgar Perez swept the early daily double aboard Eton ($9.80) in Race 1 and Canny Land ($17) in Race 2 … Emisael Jaramillo also had back-to-back winners with Ashima ($17) in the $75,000 Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf and Krioyo ($7.40) in Race 6 … Jockey John Velazquez and trainer Todd Pletcher teamed up to win Race 4 with River Thames ($7.80) and Race 7 with Grande ($20.60).

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