Great Venezuela Makes Triumphant Return in Islamorada

Jockey Rajiv Maragh Closes in on 2,000 Career Win Milestone
Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $50,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Back on her home turf – make that Tapeta – Orlyana Farms’ Great Venezuela continued her impressive domination over sprinting fillies and mares at Gulfstream Park Sunday with a 2 ½-length victory in the $100,000 Islamorada overnight handicap.

Great Venezuela, who finished worse than third for the first time while running fourth in the six-furlong Sen. Ken Maddy over the Del Mar turf course Oct. 31, rebounded with an authoritative score to collect her seventh victory in eight starts on the all-weather surface. The 4-year-old daughter of Neolithic, who finished second in her only other Tapeta start, has now won nine races on Tapeta or turf in her 16-race career that also includes five seconds and two thirds.

“She’s been an amazing filly for us,” trainer Victor Barboza Jr. said. “She’s a good filly at five furlongs, 5 ½-furlongs.”

Twirling Queen, a multiple stakes winner who carried one more pound than Great Venezuela as the 124-pound highweight, set the pace in the 5 ½-furlong handicap for fillies and mares with the Barboza-trained even-money favorite in close attendance. Twirling Queen, who set fractions of 22.03 and 44.52 seconds for a half-mile, was overtaken at the top of the stretch by Great Venezuela, who drew off to win comfortably under Emisael Jaramillo.

“At the beginning of the race we had a great start. I pulled Great Venezuela alongside Twirling Queen and didn’t give her any breather,” Jaramillo said. “It worked out very well, because she has such a big kick in the stretch.”

Great Venezuela never had the opportunity to get clear running room in the Sen. Ken Maddy while forcing the pace between horses before coming up short in the stretch to finish 2 ½ lengths off the winner.

“She ran a good race. It was a different track and a different distance,” Barboza said. “It was a good race for the filly, beaten less than three lengths.”

Great Venezuela was obviously more suited to the distance and surface of Sunday’s Islamorada.

“She’s different on the Tapeta track,” Barboza said. “Her movement is very strong.”

Great Venezuela ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:01.78. Barboza-trained Le Amazonia closed from off the pace to finish second, a neck ahead of Sporting Lady, whose stablemate Twirling Queen faded to sixth.

Rajiv Maragh Closes in on 2,000 Career Win Milestone

Jockey Rajiv Maragh moved closer to his 2,000th career win after guiding MHM Stables’ 2-year-old colt Augustinian to victory in Sunday’s second race at Gulfstream Park, his lone mount on the card.

The 1-2 favorite over six rivals trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Augustinian ($3) had run second in four of his first five starts, three of them with Maragh aboard including each of the last two, beaten twice by a neck.

Wearing blinkers for the first time and breaking from the rail in a five-furlong maiden special weight that was rained off the grass to the all-weather Tapeta course, Augustinian was away alertly and led every step before opening up through the stretch to win by six lengths in 55.94 seconds.

Maragh is named in two races when the Championship Meet resumes Thursday. In Race 2, a $12,500 maiden claimer for 2-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track, he will be aboard Sport of Kings Racing Partners’ Fierce Fairshinda, taking a class drop after finishing off the board in a pair of maiden special weights.

Race 6 is a six-furlong claimer for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds and up which have never won four races. Maragh has the return call on Nikotim Stable’s sophomore Feeling Macho, a two-time winner this summer at Charles Town that ran fourth in his local debut Oct. 24 sprinting seven furlongs.

Maragh has earned more than $104 million in purses since 2004 and won Grade 1 races aboard such horses as Groupie Doll, Wicked Strong, Tizway, Main Sequence, Caleb’s Posse, Diamondrella, Music Note, Seventh Street, Little Belle, By the Moon, Artemis Agrotera, Currency Swap and Zo Impressive.

Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $50,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is estimated to reach $50,000 when the Championship Meet resumes Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

First race post time is 12:20 p.m.

Multiple mandatory payouts of the Rainbow 6 returned $13,268.58 Saturday.

Thursday’s sequence spans Races 4-9 starting with a six-furlong claiming sprint for maidens 3 and up featuring Step Slow, a first-time starter by five-time Grade 3-winning millionaire Mr. Money, and Vino’s Valentine, by $4.8 million earner and 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Vino Rosso that has three seconds and two thirds in six prior starts.

The feature comes in the Race 9 finale, an optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. Trainer Jorge Delgado entered the pair of Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies runner-up Bibi Dahl, a $1.35 million yearling unraced since graduating by 5 ¼ lengths in her fourth start, Aug. 31 at Monmouth Park, and Nacho Problem, third in Monmouth’s July 17 Colleen.

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.

Who’s Hot: Jockey Miguel Vasquez registered a Sunday hat trick aboard Sheshimaintenance ($3.80) in Race 3, Mystic Sea ($7.60) in Race 4 and Jumping Julia ($9.40) in Race 6 … Emisael Jaramillo doubled on Great Venezuela ($4) in the $100,000 Islamorada and Minty ($23.60) in Race 9 to pass Vasquez atop the rider standings, 7-6.