Sequence Begins Anew Thursday to Open Championship Meet<br> Irad Ortiz Jr. Notches Fifth Win Sunday in $75,000 Nicole’s Dream<br> Perry on the Mic

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool yielded multiple payoffs of $22,057.02 Sunday, closing day of Gulfstream Park’s fall Sunshine Meet.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for 12 consecutive racing days following a mandatory payout of $40,299.22 Oct. 26. A total of $1,897,888 was bet into the pool Sunday on top of a $214,497.84 carryover from Saturday’s program.

On mandatory payout days the entire Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence. The carryover jackpot is usually 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.

Captain Junuh ($16.20) took Sunday’s Race 11 finale to complete the winning 8-3-8-5-1-5 combination. Other winners in the sequence were Olivia Darling ($4.60) in Race 6, Escape Room ($4.80) in Race 7, Golden Skull ($54.40) in Race 8, Yamato ($11.20) in Race 9 and Karaya ($5.40) in Race 10, the $75,000 Nicole’s Dream overnight handicap.

The Rainbow 6 begins anew spanning Races 3-8 on a special Thanksgiving Day program Thursday that kicks off the 2024-2025 Championship Meet. Post time is 11:15 a.m.

Thursday’s sequence opens with a 5 ½-furlong claimer on the all-weather Tapeta course for 3-year-olds and up which have never won two races. Race 5 is an optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. Waittilmidnitehour has won two straight and three of four while 3-year-old Breezero has put together back-to-back wins over older horses.

The Race 8 finale is the $115,000 Wait a While for 2-year-old fillies going 7 ½ furlongs around two turns on the grass. Godolphin homebred Civetta exits a neck loss when second in the six-furlong Matron (G3) Oct. 6 at Aqueduct. Corinne and William Heiligbrodt’s Bellavinino has run second in two straight stakes, most recently beaten a neck in the one-mile Our Dear Peggy Oct. 26 at Gulfstream.

Sunday’s Late Pick 5 returned $27,901.45.

Irad Ortiz Jr. Notches Fifth Win Sunday in $75,000 Nicole’s Dream

M Racing Group’s Karaya slipped through an opening along the inside and powered through the stretch to outrun Queen Olly for a popular victory in Sunday’s $75,000 Nicole’s Dream overnight handicap for fillies and mares 3 and up.

It was the fifth win of the day for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., following a four-win afternoon Saturday and a victory aboard 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner White Abarrio in his comeback Friday. Ortiz has won five of the last six Championship Meet titles and begins his quest to become the first jockey to lead the standings six times when the 2024-2025 Championship Meet opens Thursday.

Other wins for Ortiz Saturday came with Printer’s Alley ($8.80) in Race 1, Bomb Squad ($4.60) in Race 3, Kaboobie ($4.40) in Race 4 and Lita ($5.20) in Race 5. In three racing days this weekend, Ortiz went 10-for-25 (40 percent) with three seconds and more than $250,000 in purse earnings.

“I have to appreciate all the people who support me. As soon as I get here, the owners and trainers supported me right away. It’s been amazing,” Ortiz said. “All the trainers help me and my agent [Steve Rushing], he does a great job. I’m very happy to win here.”

Ortiz settled Karaya, favored at 9-5 in a field of eight, off the pace as 20-1 long shot On the Payroll broke running and went the opening quarter-mile in 22.53 seconds. Queen Olly swept to the lead on the far outside after going a half in 45.50, but Karaya cut the corner and dug in for her fourth win from eight starts and first in a stakes.

“We thought we were going to be a little more forwardly placed but she broke a step slow so we had to go to Plan B,” Ortiz said. “I had to sit there and let her be happy, and she was relaxed. At the three-eighths pole I looked in front of me and saw a hole inside start to open up so I let her go there if she wanted to do it, and she did it. She was flying.”

Perry on the Mic

Gulfstream host and analyst Samantha Perry jumped on the microphone Sunday for the first two races when announcer Gabe Prewitt (filling in for regular announcer Pete Aiello) was running late due to unforeseen circumstances.

Perry had never called a race prior to Sunday.

“It was fun,” Perry said. “It’s nice to try different things and put on different hats. I would do it again, but I’m very happy with my current role.”

Prewitt was back in the announcer’s booth for Race 3.