Kerry’s Kiss to Breeze Monday at Gulfstream for Breeders’ Cup

4YO Filly Earned Automatic Berth With G3 Princess Rooney Victory
Among Five Breeders’ Cup Contenders for Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Taste of the Caribbean, Halloween Celebration Saturday at Gulfstream
Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $75,000 for Friday Return

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – BAG Racing Stables, Epic Horses and The White House Stables’ Kerry’s Kiss is scheduled to work Monday at Gulfstream Park ahead of her biggest assignment yet in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Oct. 31.

Kerry’s Kiss earned an automatic trip to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup by virtue of her front-running victory in the Princess Rooney (G3) Sept. 12 at Gulfstream, similarly, run at seven furlongs.

“She’s going to breeze tomorrow if the track is good. She had one work back and she was supposed to breeze today, but we moved it back because of the weather,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said between races Sunday. “All’s on target if she works good tomorrow, then she’ll have one more work before she goes.”

Kerry’s Kiss has won four consecutive races, her last three coming in one-turn Gulfstream sprint stakes this summer after being purchased privately and relocated to South Florida following five straight two-turn races at Oaklawn Park.

“She’s been a good horse for us, but you never expect them to get that good. She just keeps improving,” Joseph said. “[The Breeders’ Cup] is a different kind of class. This is going to be a reality check, but her figures aren’t too far off from doing it.”

Kerry’s Kiss was a comfortable 1 ½-length winner over favored Simply Joking in the Princess Rooney, marking Joseph’s fourth consecutive victory in the race. The first three all went on to the Filly & Mare Sprint including Soul of an Angel, who completed the sweep and was named champion female sprinter of 2024. Three Witches ran third in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, and Haulin Ice was sixth last fall.

“The Princess Rooney has been a good steppingstone,” Joseph said. “All our horses, barring Haulin Ice who was distance limited, have run well from it. Even Three Witches, she didn’t win but she ran third.”

Joseph also has Averill Racing and Anthony Mattera’s R Disaster pointing to the Filly & Mare Sprint. R Disaster won Gulfstream’s Hurricane Bertie (G3) March 7 to open her 5-year-old season and owns subsequent wins in the Derby City Distaff (G1) and Gallant Bloom (G2).

Other Breeders’ Cup-bound horses for Joseph include Forged Steel for the Classic (G1), In Our Time for the Turf Sprint (G1) and Eunomia for the Distaff (G1). Forged Steel in the Goodwood (G1) and Eunomia in the Clement Hirsch (G1) both earned automatic berths from their wins in Southern California.

“R Disaster is going to work this week at Saratoga and Forged Steel is going to work tomorrow,” Joseph said. “We’ve got some decent shots. No favorites, but some shots to win.”

Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $75,000 for Friday Return

Unsolved for the fourth consecutive racing day Sunday, the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is estimated to reach $75,000 when the fall Sunshine Meet resumes with a nine-race program Friday at Gulfstream Park.

The popular multi-race wager last produced multiple mandatory payouts of $3,501.22 Oct. 11.

Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence spans Races 4-9, starting with an optional claiming allowance for 2-year-old fillies scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. Vittoria Eva, Cynster, Roadsterella, Just a Chance Yadi and Army Salute all come off maiden victories going the distance over the all-weather Tapeta course.

The feature comes in Race 8, an optional claiming allowance scheduled for a two-turn mile on the turf that drew a field of 11 fillies and mares 3 and up that includes City Minute, third or better in 10 of 14 career starts, and Nancy’s Shawl, a 3-year-old Minnesota-bred daughter of 2016 Holy Bull (G2) and Fountain of Youth (G2) winner Mohaymen entered to make her grass debut off an eight-length win at Canterbury Downs.

Juvenile fillies are in the spotlight again in the Friday finale, a maiden optional claimer sprinting six furlongs on the main track featuring first-time starters Soul Eclipse, Gold Glitters, Khozan Ostra, High Magic and Noah’s Roadster.

In the Rainbow 6, the jackpot pool is paid out only 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.

Taste of the Caribbean, Halloween Celebration Saturday at Gulfstream

There’s plenty to do at Gulfstream on Saturday, Oct. 24, when it celebrates Rum and the Caribbean in the afternoon, and the Creepy Carnival Clowns Halloween Celebration at night.

The popular series Taste at the Track will offer flavorful, Caribbean-inspired dishes along with rum cocktails and a front-row view of the afternoon’s live races, which will include the Mr. Jordan.

Tickets are $60 for general admission (1-4 p.m.) while VIP tickets are $85 (admission beginning at noon). Click here for tickets.

Creepy Carnival Clowns Halloween Celebration is free to all and will take place at Gulfstream Park Village between 7-10 p.m. The event will feature candy stations from 7-8 p.m., outdoor bars, a beer garden, performers, a live DJ and interactive characters. Click here for more info.

Note: Jockey Samy Camacho rode back-to-back winners Sunday, The Sazerac ($6) in Race 3 and Parlaypauline ($9.20) in Race 4, completing his hat trick with Tutto Passa ($6.40) in Race 7.