Lure Him In Edges Octane in $75,000 Sunshine Classic<br> Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $700,000<br> Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Registers Four-Win Day Saturday

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Repole Stable’s homebred Fierceness turned in a sharp five-furlong breeze Saturday at Palm Beach Downs as he continues to work toward his 3-year-old debut in the $350,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park.

Expected to be named champion 2-year-old male of 2023 at the Eclipse Awards Jan. 25 in South Florida, Fierceness was timed in 59.48 seconds, the fastest of 12 horses at the distance. It was the sixth work for the City of Light colt since his dominant victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

“Fierceness has trained super. He’s such a terrific workhorse. He does everything effortlessly,” Pletcher said. “I think with Fierceness we feel like the quality’s there [and] the talent’s there. Like everyone else we just need to keep moving forward and stay healthy.”

Fierceness, whose sire won the 2019 Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream in his career finale, was a debut winner last summer at Saratoga before running seventh in the Champagne (G1) at Aqueduct. Undeterred by the effort, the connections pointed to the Breeders’ Cup where Fierceness rolled by 6 ¼ lengths at odds of 16-1.

If all continues to go to plan, Pletcher said Fierceness would use the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull as a springboard to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) March 31, contested at 1 1/8 miles. Last year Repole and Pletcher campaigned 2022 champion 2-year-old Forte to wins in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby.

“So far it’s worked out really well. We didn’t have to let him down too much after the Breeders’ Cup [and] kept him ticking over with the Holy Bull in mind,” Pletcher said. “We kind of liked the spacing coming out of that to the Florida Derby and hopefully things continue on towards Kentucky.”

Lure Him In Edges Octane in $75,000 Sunshine Classic

Double B Racing Stable’s Lure Him In battled with favored pacesetter Octane the length of the stretch before sticking his neck out on the wire to spring a 7-1 upset in Saturday’s $75,000 Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream Park.

Ridden by Edwin Gonzalez for trainer Herman Wilensky, Lure Him In ($16.20) covered 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track in 1:43.22 to earn his second career stakes victory following the 2022 Sunshine Turf for previous connections.

Octane, sent off at 1-2 in a field of seven Florida-breds, broke alertly from his rail post and established command right away, leading through a quarter-mile in 23.61 seconds and a half in 47.70, while Lure Him In settled in sixth before making a bold move on the far outside around the turn to get into contention. After hooking up at the top of the stretch, Octane forged a short lead passing the eighth pole before Lure Him In surged again and was able to edge clear in the final jump. The Skipper Too was third.

“We thought we would be sitting closer early. [Octane] came out sending early and we didn’t break as good as we thought we would,” Wilensky’s son and assistant, Sam Wilensky, said. “We ran the longest races. We were four and five wide on the turn and still had enough to horse left to win the race.”

Lure Him In has been running on turf or synthetics when he was claimed for $40,000 in September at Del Mar. Immediately put back on the dirt, he captured a one-mile optional claimer Nov. 25 at Gulfstream and got caught wide when ninth in the 1 1/16-mile Harlan’s Holiday (G3) Dec. 30.

“It looked a little rough at first. We claimed him for $40,000 and he ran second to last that day,” Wilensky said. “In our eyes he’s not necessarily a turf horse. He runs on anything. The turf may not be his thing, especially out there at Del Mar. It was nice to get him back on the dirt here and not run 11-wide like we did in the Harlan’s Holiday.”

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Gross Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $700,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $700,000 for Sunday’s program at Gulfstream Park.

The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for 15 consecutive racing days following a mandatory payout of $31,356.08 Dec. 30.

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 5-10, featuring the $75,000 Sunshine Turf in Race 8. Michael Maker-trained Me and Mr. C is rated as the 7-5 morning-line favorite after a close-up second-place finish in the $100,000 Augustine Handicap Dec. 30. The 7-year-old gelding won three turf stakes, including the Soldier’s Dancer at Gulfstream, last season. Graded-stakes winner Boppy O will be equipped with blinkers by Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse following his third-place finish in the $150,000 Tropical Park Derby last time out. Michael Trombetta-trained Souper Blessing, who won the Tropical Park Derby, is also entered in the Sunshine Turf.

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.

Who’s Hot: Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. registered four wins Saturday aboard Lady Emily Kathryn ($3) in Race 4, Rod Two Rod ($4) in Race 6, Triple Espresso ($3.80) in Race 7 and Cruzin Man ($5.20) in Race 8 … Jockey Edwin Gonzalez visited the winner’s circle with Demurely ($20.20) in Race 5 and Lure Him In ($16.20) in the $75,000 Sunshine Classic, Edgard Zayas also doubled with Mufrih ($10.20) in Race 3 and Ticking ($87.80) in Race 10, as did Junior Alvarado with Echo Lane ($6.60) in Race 2 and Royal Majesty ($8.20) in Race 11 … Mufrih and Lady Emily Kathryn are both trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. … Trainer Rohan Crichton won with both Echo Lane and Cruzin Man.