Literate Upsets Just F Y I, Gun Song in Thursday Feature

Rainbow 6 Hit for $298,604; Late Pick 5 $296,831
Super Hi-5 Carryover $15,368
Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout Set for Sunday
Florida Derby Runner-Up Catalytic Dons Blinkers

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Bettors were pretty much divided between graded stakes-winning Just F Y I and Gun Song in Thursday’s feature race at Gulfstream Park, sending both well-established stars to post at 4-5 while generally overlooking Literate, who was still looking for her first stakes win in her 12th career start.

Literate, however, would soon catch the attention of everyone while pulling off a dominating 16-1 upset victory in the mile optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares, finishing 4 ¼ lengths clear of runner-up Just F Y I and 6 ¾ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Gun Song.

Just F Y I was making her first start since finishing off-the-board in the June 7 Acorn (G1) at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old daughter of Justify was honored with the Eclipse Award as the 2023 champion 2-year-old filly after going undefeated in her first three career starts, including a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Last year, she finished second in the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland and Kentucky Oaks (G1) before failing in the Acorn and going to the sideline.

Gun Song was also making her 2025 debut in Thursday’s feature. The daughter of Gun Runner concluded her 2924 campaign with a photo-finish second behind eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the Cotillion (G1) at Parx and a narrow loss to Tarifa in the Mother Goose (G2) at Aqueduct.

C2 Racing Stable LLC’s Literate, who enjoyed moderate success while winning three of five starts over the Tapeta track at Woodbine last season, floated over Gulfstream’s main track Thursday in only her third start on dirt. Just F Y I jumped out to a clear early lead to set fractions of 23.98 and 46.16 (seconds) for the first half mile while racing a few paths off the rail under Junior Alvarado. Literate was the closest in pursuit along the backstretch and into the far turn with Gun Song racing in third. Turning for home, jockey Tyler Gaffalione sent Literate to the inside of Just F Y I, taking command at the top of the stretch and drawing away.

“The owners wanted to try the dirt one more time,” said Drexler, whose trainee had finished off-the-board in a Tampa Bay Downs stakes on dirt last time out. “This race came up with a short field so ultimately they wanted to give her one more shot on dirt before they send her up to Toronto. This opens up a lot of avenues now.”

Literate, a 5-year-old daughter of Oscar Performance, ran the mile in 1:36.23.

Alvarado said Bill Mott-trained Just F Y I had no excuses while racing in field shortened to five by the early scratch of Lea Farms LLC’s Power Squeeze, the 2024 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) and Alabama (G1) winner.

“The horse was in a good spot. At the quarter pole I didn’t feel like I had much and my thought at that point was to hold for second,” said Alvarado, whose mount was narrowly favored over Gun Song. “I’m personally a little disappointed. I thought she should have run a little better than that. With that kind of pace in that kind of race, five-horse field, she should be able to handle that.”

Trainer Mark Hennig said he was ‘a little disappointed’ in Gun Song’s even effort.

“It was her first race back. John said she was just a little flat today, which was surprising because she was very sharp coming into it this week. She really wasn’t taking him there like usual,” he said. “Hopefully she doesn’t get sick or anything. We’ll keep an eye on her and make sure everything’s OK.”

Rainbow 6 Solved Thursday for a $298,604 Jackpot Hit

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 was solved Thursday at Gulfstream Park, good for a jackpot hit of $298,604.24 by the single ticketholder with the 1-6-2-10-6-9 combination for the six-race sequence that spanned Races 4-9.

The popular multi-race wager had gone unsolved for six racing days following a March 2 mandatory payout. There were four ‘singles’ in a nine-horse field heading into the final leg. Westhampton closed out the winning sequence while producing a $202.60 payoff for a $2 win ticket.

The Rainbow 6 starts anew Friday with a sequence that spans Races 4-9, featuring a mile entry-level optional claiming allowance in Race 8, in which Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Catalytic will be equipped with blinkers for the first time. The 4-year-olds son of Catalina Cruiser, who finished a distant second behind Fierceness in last year’s Curlin Florida Derby (G1) before finishing off the board in the Kentucky Derby (G1), is riding a streak of three runner-up finishes since returning from Kentucky, each time on the losing end of a photo finish.

The Rainbow 6 carryover 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 usually goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. On mandatory-payout days, the entire Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the wager’s six-race sequence.

A mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is scheduled for Sunday.

Who’s Hot: Tyler Gaffalione, who guided Literate ($34.00) to an upset victory in the Race 6 feature, returned to the winner’s circle with Bakers Secret ($11.40) in Race 8. Jose Morelos had the trick aboard High Strike ($5) in Race 1, One Smokin’ Rita ($5.60) in Race 3 and Westhampton in the last.