Moonstrocity Brings Experience into Saturday’s Carry Back

Friday’s Rainbow 6 Features Happy Ride’s Quest for 4 in a Row Mandatory 20-cent Rainbow 6 Payout Set for Sunday

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Blue Rose Farm LLC’s Moonstrocity enters Saturday’s $100,000 Carry Back at Gulfstream Park with the experience of having kept Grade 1 company in his not-too-distant past.

No stranger to the Triple Crown trail, trainer Jena Antonucci decided last spring to give Moonstrocity a chance to graduate in the Blue Grass (G1), Keeneland’s signature Kentucky Derby (G1) prep.

The son of 2020 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tiz the Law was coming off a third-place finish in a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight for Antonucci, who saddled Blue Rose Farm LLC’s Arcangelo for a victory in the 2023 Belmont Stakes to become the first woman trainer to saddle the winner of a Triple Crown race.

“We wanted to take a chance and take a swing there. It was an opportunity and the field came up the right way,” Antonucci said. “We just took a swing. It was nothing more than that, but he’s a lovely horse.”

Moonstrocity was taken off the pace from the start and trailed throughout, finishing seventh of seven in the 1 1/8-mile stakes in which fellow maiden Ocelli finished second behind Further Ado.

“In the Blue Grass, in his defense, our plan was to take him out the back door and make one run at it. We took him out of his running style,” Antonucci said. “The pace never unfolded for him in that way, so we’ll take a ‘Coach’s E’ on that one.”

Moonstrocity went on to graduate with authority in a one-turn-mile maiden special weight at Gulfstream in his next start, showing no ill effects from his off-the-board finish in the Blue Grass.

“He didn’t take it too personally, mentally,” Antonucci quipped.

Moonstrocity, who closed to finish fourth on Tapeta last time out in the 1 1/16-mile Not Surprising at Gulfstream Park, returns to the main track and one turn for the Carry Back. Could the Kentucky-bred colt be at his best running around one turn?

“I don’t know if he’s made that decision yet,” Antonucci said. “I don’t think we know if he wants to be a one- or two-turn horse yet. He has enough tactical speed that we can still ask those questions.”

Moonstrocity, who is listed at 12-1, will meet seven rivals Saturday, including Baalbek Corp.’s 9-5 morning-line favorite Wayne’s Law, who is another son of Tiz the Law who was also tested on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, on which the Amador Sanchez trainee finished fifth in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream.

Friday’s Rainbow 6 Features Happy Ride’s Quest for 4 in a Row

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 starts anew Friday at Gulfstream Park following Sunday’s mandatory payout that yielded multiple $41.598 payoffs. The popular multi-race wager had gone unsolved for two racing days following a $110,007 jackpot hit

Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 3-8, featuring Happy Ride’s quest for a fourth-consecutive victory in Race 6, a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares on Tapeta. The 7-year-old daughter of Ride On Curlin, who was claimed by William Oughton, S and G Racing and trainer Joe Orseno for $10,000 Jan. 1, has won three straight starters allowance sprints on Tapeta. Happy Ride is the 2-1 morning-line favorite.in a seven-horse field that includes Victor Barboza Jr.-trained Heir to the Roar, who finished second behind the favorite last time and who is rated second at 5-2 on the morning line.

Another mandatory Rainbow 6 payout is set for Sunday’s card.

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. On mandatory payout days, the entire pool is disbursed to the bettor or bettors holding tickets with the most winners in the six-race sequence.