Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Fans allowed to attend races for Florida Derby Day card
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For just the third time at the championship meet, which began Dec. 2, ontrack spectators will be permitted when the Florida Derby is run March 27. Tickets are on sale through the track website on a limited basis, just as they were for the Jan. 23 Pegasus and Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth. Strict pandemic-related protocols apply.
Gulfstream general manager Billy Badgett said Wednesday that a decision has yet to be made on whether the Rainbow 6 will be forced out on Florida Derby Day or the following day, March 28, closing day of the championship meet. This week began with $315,073 in the Rainbow 6 jackpot.
“We’re waiting to see about the weather and a couple other things,” Badgett said.
Meanwhile, Greatest Honour remains by far the leading contender for the $750,000 Florida Derby, with his known challengers being Collaborate, Known Agenda, Nova Rags, Papetu, Soup and Sandwich, Quantum Leap, and Jirafales. Greatest Honour, winner of the Holy Bull and Fountain of Youth for Courtlandt Farm and trainer Shug McGaughey, is scheduled to have his final pre-race work this weekend at Payson Park.
Fields also are taking shape for the other nine stakes to be run on the Florida Derby card. Five of them are graded – the Gulfstream Oaks, Pan American, Orchid, Appleton, and Ghostzapper. Entries for all Florida Derby Day races will be drawn Wednesday.
The Grade 3 Ghostzapper, for older horses going 1 1/8 miles, had been run as the Creme Fraiche from 1990 through 2002 and as the Hal’s Hope from 2003 through 2020.
Sutherland to ride again
Chantal Sutherland is switching circuits again. The 45-yearold jockey has been exercising horses this winter in Florida and now has decided to resume riding races, starting with the March 28 Florida Cup card at Tampa Bay Downs and into the Gulfstream Park springsummer meet, which runs April 1 to Sept. 26.
Sutherland has not ridden since Dec. 9, and her 11 winners in 2020 were the fewest since she began riding in 2000, not counting when she left the sport for other pursuits in 2015. She said in a Gulfstream press release earlier this week that her decision to return “has been manifesting and growing in my heart over the last year.” “I want to ride as much as I can before releasing the hold to a sport that is part of me,” she said. “Someday I will face the expiration date that all jockeys and professional athletes must face, but not yet.”
Earlier in her career, Sutherland enjoyed considerable success in Canada, where she won the Sovereign Award for top apprentice rider in 2001 and 2002, and in Southern California, where she was the regular rider for the $6.5 millionearner Game On Dude in 2011 and 2012.
In recent seasons, however, Sutherland has struggled to find a niche. After leaving California some 3 1/2 years ago, she has ridden with moderate success in the Midwest, mostly in Kentucky, in addition to the long 2018 meet back home at Woodbine. Sutherland, a native of Winnipeg, has ridden regularly in other states as well during her 20-year career, including New York, Louisiana, Maryland, and Florida. She rode a combined 20 winners as a regular at Gulfstream in 200506.
Competition for mounts at Gulfstream becomes less difficult following the four-month championship meet, which ends March 28, as many top jockeys leave Florida for other circuits. Sutherland will be represented by agent John Salamone.
“I’ve had good feedback and vibes from everyone,” Sutherland said.
Hurricane Bertie, Take 2
Gulfstream officials on Wednesday were expecting six fillies and mares for the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie, to be run Saturday with two other stakes.
Cory Gal and Sound Machine are among the likely favorites in the $100,000 Hurricane Bertie, which was postponed from its original March 13 date for a lack of sufficient entries. The 6 1/2-furlong race will be part of a Saturday card that also includes a pair of $75,000 turf sprints, the Texas Glitter for 3-year-olds and the Melody of Colors for 3-year-old fillies.
◗ Irad Ortiz Jr., the threetime reigning Eclipse Awardwinning jockey who leads both the championship meet (131 wins) and the national 2021 standings (106 wins), is expected back here Sunday after serving a five-day suspension stemming from a March 5 riding infraction. Ortiz will ride the big Louisiana Derby card on Saturday at Fair Grounds in his first day back following the suspension.
◗ Carotari, winner of the Silks Run here last Saturday, will race next in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on the April 30 Kentucky Oaks card at Churchill Downs, trainer Brian Lynch said. Carotari earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure in his front-running victory.