Consistent Private Thoughts Tries Again in St. Augustine

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $175,000
White Abarrio to Skip G3 Mr. Prospector, Train Up to G1 Pegasus

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – David Romanik and Ron Spatz’s consistent gelding Private Thoughts, beaten by Prevent as the favorite in his most recent starts, looks to turn the tables on his rival when they meet again Saturday in the $100,000 St. Augustine overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Spatz, Private Thoughts has three wins and two seconds in five starts this year, all since Aug. 1 following a nine-month layoff. Overall the 4-year-old son of millionaire Neolithic has been third or better in 13 of 17 career races with nearly $300,000 in purse earnings.

“Every time he runs now I sit there and say, ‘How long can he hold his form?’” Spatz said. “He’s just doing great and training like he did when he first came back from the layoff. He’s just been so consistent.”

Spatz, who purchased Private Thoughts for $11,000 as a 2-year-old in training in March 2023, has seen his stable star alternate firsts and seconds in seven straight starts dating back to last October. Each of the last three have come in overnight handicaps, winning the Oct. 4 Jet Propulsion and beaten a neck in the Nov. 2 Empire Builder on turf, and coming up a half-length shy of Prevent in the Nov. 29 Sabal Palm on the Tapeta.

“When he got beat two races back the winner was coming down the middle of the racetrack and he had just gotten done fighting with another horse, so he got beat on the square. The next one the winner got loose on an easy lead and he only got beat a half-length after that,” Spatz said.

“I think during that down time, he really matured. He was always kind of a sprinter-looking horse, but his body kind of developed. He always had a good mind,” he added. “He’s still got a few funny habits. You’ll see when he’s running he’ll look like a porpoise, he’ll want to jump something. But he’s very serious about his training and his work ethic is great.”

Tyler Gaffalione has the mount on Private Thoughts from Post 4. They are rated the 4-1 third choice on the morning line.

BC Racing’s Prevent (Post 8, 3-1) beat Private Thoughts winning the Sabal Palm and Sept. 6 Mambo Meister overnight handicap and they split optional claiming allowances last year, one each on the grass and Tapeta. Also by Neolithic, the Carlos David trainee won the Soldier’s Dancer July 5 and has placed in three other stakes.

Jayhawk (Post 1, 6-1), twice Grade 3-placed Bail Us Out (Post 2, 5-2), Megalodon (Post 3, 12-1), No More Options (Post 5, 10-1), Tour the City (Post 6, 9-2) and Brawn (Post 7, 20-1) are also entered.

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $175,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is estimated to reach $175,000 for Saturday’s stakes-filled program at Gulfstream Park.

Post time for the first of 11 races is 12:20 p.m.

The Rainbow 6 spans Races 6-11, kicked off by a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds going a one-turn mile on the main track. Boss Dylan, a second-time starter by Liam’s Map that fetched $460,000 at auction in April, rallied from far back to be second in his Nov. 23 debut going 6 ½ furlongs. Five others in the seven-horse field also brought six figures including $520,000 Uncle Mo colt Easterly.

Race 8 is the $100,000 St. Augustine overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on the all-weather Tapeta course. Twice Grade 3-placed Bail Us Out is the 5-2 program favorite racing first time for trainer Bobby Dibona. Also in the field are multiple handicap winners Prevent and Private Thoughts, respectively 1-2 in the Sabal Palm Nov. 29.

Fillies and mares 3 and up are scheduled to go five furlongs on the grass in Race 9, the $100,000 Abundantia where multiple graded-stakes winner Haulin Ice, less than $30,000 away from reaching millionaire status, is entered to make her 19th start and first on the grass. The competition includes multiple stakes winners Love Appeals and Choose Joy.

Saturday’s feature comes in Race 10, the 71st running of the $150,000 Mr. Prospector (G3) for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Friday that White Abarrio, the multiple Grade 1 winner of more than $7 million in purses that drew Post 1 and was installed as the even-money top choice on the morning line, would skip the race and train up to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 24. Knightsbridge, a nine-length winner over Gulfstream’s main track March 28, should inherit the favorite’s role making just his second start off a nine-month layoff after capturing his comeback race Nov. 22 at Aqueduct.

In the Rainbow 6, the 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.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for 12 consecutive racing days before returning multiple mandatory payouts of $2,390.64 Dec. 21.

Who’s Hot: Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano doubled Friday on No Pressure ($7) in Race 1 and Sterling Silver ($8.80) in the $125,000 Rampart … Jockey Edgard Zayas also visited the winner’s circle twice, aboard Not Now Nick ($5.60) in Race 4 and Hawk ($20.40) in Race 6 … Both Not Now Nick and Back Em Up ($8.40) in Race 8 are owned by Keough and Meaney and trained by Bobby Dibona … Carlos David trains both Hawk and La Cantera ($4.60) in Race 10 … Gulfstream analyst and handicapper Ron Nicoletti solved Friday’s Rainbow 6 with a $38.60 ticket. The 3-6-7-5-9-4 sequence returned $406.84.