Resazrolex Registers Eighth Straight Victory Friday

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $400,000
Five Stakes Worth $750,000 on Pegasus Preview Day
Trio of Preps for $4.5M Pegasus World Cup Day Jan. 24
Cruise the Nile Graduates Friday in Front-Running Fashion
Full Brother to Rachel Alexandra Making Race Debut Saturday

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Robert Cotran’s Rezasrolex collected his eighth straight victory Friday at Gulfstream Park with a front-running performance in Race 5, a five-furlong optional claiming allowance on turf.

The 4-year-old son of multiple Grade 2 winner Bucchero entered Friday’s race off seven consecutive victories over Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta surface.

“Today was the turf test. He’s by Bucchero. He’s a stallion I love. I knew he’d turf. He’d run one time [on turf] at Belterra with a 40 Beyer. It’s apples and oranges,” trainer Joe Orseno said. “The horse is doing great. He’s keeping himself together. I stop when it’s time to stop on him. I’ve given him time off before. He’ s doing great.”

Rezasrolex ($4.60), a Florida-bred gelding who was claimed for $18,000 by his current connections out of his Gulfstream debut in December 2023, went right to the front Friday under jockey Edgard Zayas and held off a late drive from favored Poseidon’s Law by a neck in the non-winners-of-one optional claiming allowance.

“We’re going to have to figure out his next step. Now he’s a two-other-than. There’s some stakes coming up,” Orseno said. “He’s just a neat horse and we’re keeping him happy.”

Since being claiming out of a winning Gulfstream debut for trainer Bill Morey in his third career race, Rezasrolex has won 10 of 13 races for Cotran and Orseno.

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $400,000

Four of Saturday’s five stakes, two graded, worth $750,000 in purses will be part of a 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence where the jackpot pool is expected to reach $400,000 on Pegasus Preview Day at Gulfstream Park.

Post time for the first of 11 races is 12:20 p.m.

The Rainbow 6 spans Races 6-11, kicked off by the $125,000 Sugar Swirl for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting six furlongs on the main track where Mystic Lake makes a title defense for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Mystic Lake, subsequent winner of the Inside Information (G2) Jan. 25, takes a four-race win streak, all in stakes, into the Sugar Swirl.

Epic Horses’ Epic d’Oro, a $1.35 million yearling by Medaglia d’Oro, is set to make his career debut in Race 7, a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Out of the Roar mare Lotta Kim, he is a full brother to 2009 Horse of the Year and 2016 Hall of Fame mare Rachel Alexandra. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Epic d’Oro drew outermost Post 12 in the main body of a field that includes four also-eligibles.

Race 9 is the $150,000 Suwannee River for fillies and mares scheduled for a two-turn mile on the grass, a prep for the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G2) Jan. 24. Heading a Joseph-trained quartet is Movin’ On Up, who is unbeaten at Gulfstream with two wins apiece on the grass and all-weather Tapeta course. South African Group 2 winner Feather Boa seeks a first North American victory for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Poster, winner of last year’s Remsen (G2) who returned from eight months away to beat elders in an optional claimer Nov. 9, is the 2-1 program favorite in Race 10, the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3) for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles, serving as a springboard to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1). Con Compania, last out winner of the Mr. Jordan overnight handicap Oct. 18, races first time for trainer Bobby Dibona. Multimillionaire Skippylongstocking owns nine graded-stakes wins including the 2022 Harlan’s Holiday.

The Race 11 finale is the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G3) for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on the grass, a prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) that attracted a stacked field of 10 including millionaires Wolfie’s Dynaghost, Chasing the Crown and defending champion Major Dude, and fellow graded-stakes winners Cugino and Steal Sunshine.

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.

The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for 11 consecutive racing days following multiple mandatory payouts of $13,268.58 Nov. 29. Another mandatory payout is scheduled for Sunday, when the jackpot pool is expected to reach $3 million if not hit beforehand.

On mandatory payout days, the entire Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is disbursed to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence.

Also on Saturday’s program in Race 5 is the $125,000 Janus for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. Renewing their rivalry are multiple stakes winners Coppola and Reef Runner, who respectively ran first and third in last year’s race. Coppola is unraced since a runner-up finish in Kentucky Downs Aug. 3, while Reef Runner returns following a fall sojourn in southern California that included a win in the Eddie D (G2) and a fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

Cruise the Nile Graduates in Front-Running Fashion Friday

Hope Jones’ 3-year-old New Jersey homebred gelding Cruise the Nile, under a heads-up ride from Jorge Ruiz, got away with soft early fractions to scoot away from his rivals in the stretch and spring a front-running 11-1 upset in Friday’s opener at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Graham Motion, Cruise the Nile ($25.20) completed one mile over a firm turf course in 1:34.94 to win the maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and up by 2 ½ lengths over Limited Edition. Make It Make Sense, one of two first-time starters for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, was third.

Breaking from the rail, Ruiz positioned Cruise the Nile on the lead through a quarter-mile in 24.93 seconds and a half in 49.49 as Make It Make Sense tracked two wide in second and Up for an Oscar – the first Championship Meet starter for trainer Chad Brown – further out in third from outermost post 12.

Cruise the Nile remained in control leaving the far turn and opened up once straightened for home. It was the second start for the son of 2014 Holy Bull (G3) winner Cairo Prince and first on the turf after finishing a distant fourth in debut Nov. 22 sprinting seven furlongs over a muddy Laurel Park main track.

Motion also trained Cruise the Nile’s dam, Party Boat, for Jones. She won five of 20 starts including Gulfstream’s 2016 Wait a While and Aqueduct’s 2017 Memories of Silver, the latter on turf, and was three times graded-stakes placed on the grass.

“When they went the first quarter in 24 and change I felt pretty good, I must say,” Motion said. “We’ve always liked this horse a lot. I was a little surprised he didn’t run better on the dirt because he’s always worked well on the dirt, but he obviously needed the grass. The mother, she was better on the grass. It’s a really good family. He’s just had a lot of little issues and the owners have just been so patient with him. I’m so happy for them.”

Who’s Hot: Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. registered back-to-back wins Friday with Tappan Street ($2.20) in Race 7 and Call Me Spicy ($3.20) in Race 8 … Jockey Jorge Ruiz visited the winner’s circle twice, with Cruise the Nile ($25.20) in Race 1 and Sister Marjorie ($22.80) in Race 3.