Gulfstream: G1 Curlin Florida Derby Headlines Day of Big Races, Big Wagers

By David Joseph —-

G1 Curlin Florida Derby Headlines Day of Big Races, Big Wagers

Fierceness, Hades Clash Anchors Late Pick 4, Late Pick 5, Rainbow 6

Guaranteed Pools: Late Pick 4 – $1 million; Late Pick 5 – $750,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – The $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa will feature a rematch between 2023 2-year-old champion Fierceness and undefeated Hades to close out a stellar afternoon of Thoroughbred racing Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The 73rd running of the Curlin Florida Derby, a tradition-rich Triple Crown prep for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, will headline a 14-race program with 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.425 million. First-race post time is set for 11:30 a.m.

The Curlin Florida Derby, which has produced the winners of 59 Triple Crown races from 46 starters since 1952, will be renewed as Race 14, anchoring the 20-cent Rainbow 6, Late Pick 4, and Late Pick 5.

There will be a $1 million pool guarantee Saturday for the Late Pick 4 (Races 11-14) and a $750,000 guaranteed pool for the Late Pick 5 (Races 10-14). There will be a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 Sunday, March 31.

Joe Orseno-trained Hades is set to make a bid to defeat Todd Pletcher-trained Fierceness for a second time following his front-running two-length victory in the Feb. 3 Holy Bull (G3), in which Fierceness finished third following a troubled start. With so much at money at stake in the multi-race wagers, bettors may be wary to just include just those two high-profile entrants. Shug McGaughey-trained Conquest Warrior, a highly regarded two-time winner during the Championship Meet, is likely to be included on many tickets.

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence will be kicked off by the $125,000 Sir Shackleton, a seven-furlong stakes for older horses that drew a highly competitive field of nine, including Amador Sanchez-trained Vivir Con Alegria, a Group 2 winner in Chile who will seek to end a streak of three consecutive second-place finishes in which he has been beaten by less than a length in all three, and Victor Barboza Jr.-trained Long Range Toddy, a graded-stakes winner who has enjoyed a return to form in recent starts.

The $150,000 Orchid (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares, will kick off the Late Pick 5 in Race 10. A deep field of eight includes Pletcher-trained Surprisingly, who finished second in the Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G2); Brendan Walsh-trained R Calli Kim, the winner of five of her last six starts who is coming off a victory in the March 2 The Very One (G3); and Chad Brown-trained McKulick, a multiple graded-stakes winner coming off a subpar effort in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) at Santa Anita.

Michael Yates-trained Fiona’s Magic and Ian Wilkes-trained Into Champagne will engage in a rematch in the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in Race 11, the first leg of the Late Pick 4. The 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks, the final local prep for the May 3 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs, drew a field of nine 3-year-old fillies. Fiona’s Magic set the pace in the March 2 Davona Dale (G2) and held off previously undefeated Into Champagne by a half-length. A talent-laden nine-horse Oaks field also includes Chad Brown-trained Ways and Means, who will open 2024 season after winning her debut by 12 ¾ lengths and finishing a close second in the Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga last summer, and Mark Hennig-trained Gun Song, a daughter of Gun Runner who is coming off a dominating 5 ¾-length romp in a Gulfstream optional claiming allowance.

The Gulfstream Park Oaks will be followed in Race 12 by the $150,000 Sand Springs, in which Brown-trained Grade 1 stakes winner Marketsegmentation is scheduled to make her 2024 debut. The 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah will make her first start since finishing fourth in the July 15 Diana (G1) at Saratoga in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares. Todd Pletcher-trained Cairo Consort, a Grade 1-placed graded-stakes winner, and Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Angel Nadeshiko, who captured the Robert J. Frankel (G3) at Santa Anita in December, are also entered in the Sand Springs.

Pletcher-trained Never Surprised, runner-up in the 2022 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) is scheduled to make his second start off a long layoff in a field of 11 assembled for the $150,000 Appleton, a mile turf stakes for older horses carded as Race 13. McGaughey-trained Smokin’ T, winner of the River City (G2) at Churchill last fall, is slated to make his second start of 2024 in the 72nd running of the Appleton.

The Florida Derby Day program’s stakes action will be kicked off in Race 3 by the $125,000 Cutler Bay, a 7 ½-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds. A field of nine includes Set, a Mark Casse-trained son of Oscar Performance who dazzled in his 5 ¾-length debut victory Feb. 24, and Graham Motion-trained Tok Tok, a son of Quality Road who won the Kitten’s Joy at Colonial Downs last season and who will be looking to improve on a disappointing 2024 debut.

The $200,000 Pan American (G2), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older horses carded as Race 6, will mark the U.S. debut of Christophe Clement-trained Kertez, a multiple group-placed 6-year-old gelding. Michael Maker-trained Starting Over, a late-closing winner of the March 2 Mac Diarmida (G2), is entered to return in the 63rd running of the Pan American.

Bobby DiBona-trained Steal Sunshine and Brian Lynch-trained Tumbarumba, who finished noses apart while 1-2 in the Gulfstream Park Mile, will renew their growing rivalry in the $150,000 Ghostzapper (G3), a 1 1/16-mile stakes for older horses carded as Race 7.

Clement-trained Ozara will seek to rebound from a third-place finish in the Herecomesthebride (G3) when she takes on nine other 3-year-old fillies in the $125,000 Sanibel Island, which will be contested at 7 ½-furlongs on turf in Race 8. The daughter of Lope de Vega had been victorious in the Ginger Brew and Wait a While in her previous two starts. Dale Romans-trained Pharoah’s Wine, a Grade 2 stakes-placed daughter of American Pharoah, is coming off a troubled off-the-board finish in her 2024 debut in the Sweetest Chant (G3).

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