G2 Davona Dale Winner Works in ‘Bullet’ 59.28 Seconds
Juvenile Season Gets Underway Thursday
Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $200,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – John Ropes’ Dorth Vader produced a ‘bullet’ five- furlong workout Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park in preparation for a planned start in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs,

The 3-year-old daughter of Girvin was timed in 59.28 seconds, the fastest of 20 workouts recorded at the distance

“We wanted her to gallop out a decent mile. I thought she worked as easy as a horse can work and go 59-and-1 or -2,” trainer Michael Yates said. “She looked like she was merely galloping. Her gallop-out was adequate. We didn’t force her while she was galloping out.”

Dorth Vader is 10th on the leaderboard for the Kentucky Oaks.

“That’s where we’re headed,” Yates said. “It’s very exciting. You don’t know if you’ll ever have that opportunity again.”

Dorth Vader breezed for the first time since finishing a disappointing fourth in the April 1 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2).

“The first time going two turns, she made the lead really easy and I think it kind of surprised her seeing a horse come back outside her,” Yates said. “She kind of cocked her head and drifted in and switched leads real late. She just ran a little bit green.”

Dorth Vader is the winner of four of eight starts and three stakes, including the March 4 Davona Dale, in which the daughter of Girvin scored a 46-1 upset with a decisive 4 ¾ lengths.

Juvenile Season Gets Underway Thursday

The first race for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park is scheduled for Thursday’s Gulfstream program, following last week’s cancellations due to historic rainfall.

A field of eight fillies has been assembled for Thursday’s Race 1, a 4 ½-furlong maiden special weight race.

Arindel, which has had considerable success with precocious 2-year-olds in recent years, will be represented by homebreds Cherokee and Mist. Cherokee is out of Florence, a full sister to graded-stakes winner Cookie Dough, the winner of two legs of the 2018 Florida Sire Stakes series and more than $600,000 in earnings. Cookie Dough, who captured the 2020 Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream, also placed in five other graded stakes.

Trainer Jose D’Angelo is slated to saddle Sun Azteca, a daughter of Sharp Azteca, for the 2-year-old season opener.. The Kentucky-bred $110,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September sale is out of graded stakes-winning City Zip mare, Northern Netti. Briseida, a daughter of Runhappy who was purchased for $80,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September sale, is scheduled to make her debut for trainer Fausto Gutierrez and St. George Stable.

Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $200,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $200,000 Thursday at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for five racing days following a jackpot hit for $42.893.

Thursday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 4-9, headlined by a well-stocked entry-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is represented by two fillies in a field of eight for the mile turf race. Impetuous Molly, a daughter of More than Ready, is scheduled to make her 2023 debut after winning one of two starts last year at Woodbine. Scottish Symphony, a stakes-placed daughter of Mendelsohn, raced twice during the Championship Meet without a victory. Christophe Clement-trained Don’tlookbackatall is scheduled for her 2023 debut following a three-race juvenile season with a debut victory and a pair of fourth-place finishes in stakes.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is 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.