Weaver, Ward Heavily Represented in Royal Palm Noms Lists

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $125,000

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainers George Weaver and Wesley Ward are heavily represented on the nominations lists for the $125,000 Royal Palm Juvenile and $125,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, a pair of Royal Ascot qualifying races for 2-year-olds scheduled to be renewed Saturday, May 9.

Weaver, who has saddled three winners in the first three years of the Royal Palm Juvenile races, has nominated four 2-year-olds to the two stakes. Fillies Easy Life, Extravaganzoo and Ghost Me are nominated to both five-furlong turf stakes, while Automatic Press is nominated to the Royal Palm Juvenile.

Weaver saddled Crimson Advocate for a victory in last year’s Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, which the daughter of Nyquist used as a launching pad for a victory in the Queen Mary (G2) at England’s Royal Ascot. Meeting. He also won the 2025 Royal Palm Juvenile with Sandal’s Song, who went on to finish third in the Norfolk (G3) at Royal Ascot. Weaver-trained No Nay Mets triumphed in the inaugural running of the Royal Palm Juvenile in 2023.

The winners of both stakes each earn an automatic entry into one of six stakes at Royal Ascot.

Ward, who sports a reputation for success with early-season 2-year-olds, has nominated nine horses, eight fillies to both races, and Suspicious, a two-length winner in his debut at Keeneland, to the Royal Palm Juvenile. Waggley, the winner of Wednesday’s Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill, and first-out winners Ruiva and Skara Brae are among the group of fillies.

Arindel homebred Boots, a daughter of Brethren who debuted with a sharp 3 ½-length victory April 16 at Gulfstream is nominated to both Royal Palm stakes.

The Royal Palm Juvenile and Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, which both received 29 nominations, offer $25,000 equine travel stipends to the winners.

Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $125,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool at Gulfstream Park is expected to grow to an estimated $125,000 Saturday. The popular multi-race wager went unsolved Friday for the third racing day following a mandatory payout.

The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 5-10, co-headlined by the $125,000 Honey Ryder in Race 6 and the $125,000 English Channel in Race 8. Trainer Patrick Biancone is represented by the morning-line favorites in both mile turf stakes. Laigina (2-1) will face eight other 3-year-old fillies in the Honey Ryder, while Redland Rebels (8-5) is favored over his eight sophomore rivals in the English Channel.

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.

Saturday’s First Race Post Time is set for 1 p.m. Silks simulcast facility will open at 10 a.m. to accommodate bettors interested in watching and wagering on the Kentucky Derby (G1) Day program at Churchill Downs that gets underway at 11 a.m.