Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Three-year-olds stay in division
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There were few if any surprises when entries were drawn for Saturday’s rich Summit of Speed program, with all the expected major players in the box, including defending Smile Sprint winner Delta Bluesman.
The Grade 3, $250,000 Smile Sprint will share top billing on the marathon 14-race program with its filly counterpart, the Grade 2, $250,000 Princess Rooney. The Smile Sprint is a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, while the Princess Rooney winner gains a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
The only real questions prior to the draw came for the connections of several horses cross-entered for both the Smile Sprint and the Grade 3 Carry Back, which is restricted to 3-year-olds. It was no surprise that both likely favorite Three Rules and key contender Classic Rock opted for the Carry Back. Trainer Henry Collazo wavered briefly on whether to try older horses in the Smile Sprint with multiple stakes winner Sweetontheladies before ultimately settling on the Carry Back as well. His colleague Antonio Sano, on the other hand, chose the Smile Sprint for his 3-yearold Coronado Again.
Delta Bluesman, who will face just seven rivals in his quest to become the first twotime winner of the Smile Sprint, drew well on the extreme outside in post 8, with Tyler Gaffalione named to ride. The remainder of the field, in postposition order: Royal Squeeze (Luca Panici), Awesome Banner (Edgard Zayas), Quijote (Luis Saez), Express Jet (Miguel Vasquez), Coronado Again (Leonel Reyes), and Very Very Stella (Jesus Rios).
The starting gate will be nearly full for the seven-furlong Princess Rooney, with 11 fillies and mares entered, topped by invaders Lightstream, Birdatthewire, and Kinsley Kisses, along with the strong local trio of Curlin’s Approval, Dearest, and Distinta.
Javier Castellano will have the mount on likely favorite Lightstream, while Drayden Van Dyke was named by trainer Tom Proctor to ride Birdatthewire. Saez is here to keep his seat on Curlin’s Approval.
Kinsley Kisses, who will be ridden by Gaffalione, is one of six horses whom leading trainer Todd Pletcher will run on the Summit of Speed card, along with both Blind Ambition and Benefactor in the Carry Back, Firefoot in the Azalea, Classy Dancer in the Brave Raj, and Dial One in the Kiss a Native. Kinsley Kisses was one of eight horses who arrived here Tuesday on a chartered flight from New York. Pletcher’s other five starters all have been regularly based at Palm Beach Downs since the winter.
“She’s run well there before, and she ran well last time,” Pletcher said of Kinsley Kisses, who has won both her local starts, including a second-level optional claimer as a 1-5 favorite in March.
Blind Ambition, favored in all four of her starts, will not have that distinction in the Carry Back but does bring a two-race win streak into the race, the most recent around two turns on grass.
“He seems versatile, he’s run well on both dirt and turf, and we felt like the seven furlongs is a good distance for him,” Pletcher said of Blind Ambition.
Benefactor finished second as the 4-5 favorite, beaten a length by Crocodile Charlie, another member of the Carry Back field, in an overnight stakes here this month.
“He just missed last time, but I thought it was a good effort, and it kind of sets him up well for this. It’s his third start off the layoff, and hopefully he’s got another move forward in him.”
Firefoot, a 3-year-old daughter of Tapizar, launched her career with an impressive three-length victory over a sloppy track here June 4.
“She’s just had the one race, and we just felt like it’s kind of an ambitious move, but she’s there, she’s training well, and it’s an opportunity to maybe get some black type for her,” said Pletcher.
Rainbow 6 mandatory payout
There will be a mandatory payout of the entire Rainbow 6 pool on Friday, regardless of whether there is a carryover going into the card. The carryover stood at nearly $65,000 heading into Thursday’s program.
The Rainbow 6 sequence on Friday’s nine-race card begins with the fourth race, a sixfurlong maiden-claiming dash for older fillies and mares, and concludes with a lower-level maiden claimer on the turf, also for fillies and mares, with Conquest Sorcerer and Cape Fear the two likely favorites.
The main event on the card is the fourth leg of the Rainbow 6, a five-furlong optional claimer on the turf that drew a wide-open field led by Kingston Terrace, Waves of Blue, and the 7-year-old 14-time winner Silver Sashay.