The lightly raced Mrs. Gambolini, who has shown a lot of talent in a short period of time, and the vastly more seasoned Great Venezuela will renew acquaintances and are strictly the horses to beat in Sunday’s main event at Gulfstream Park, a $70,000 overnight handicap for older fillies and mares to be decided at five furlongs on the turf.
The headliner is the fourth leg of a mandatory-payout Rainbow 6 sequence that begins with a very modest carryover after being hit for $185,237 last Sunday.
Gulfstream officials anticipate the pool could reach $750,000 if it is not hit by Sunday.
Mrs. Gambolini, one of two fillies leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered in the race, along with the idled Call Me Spicy, has won three of four career starts, including a similarly conditioned overnight handicap here four weeks earlier. That victory, which came at the direct expense of runner-up Great Venezuela, was the first start for the daughter of More Than Ready since she captured an allowance dash over the grass in easy and very popular fashion here nearly six months ago.
“She’s a very talented filly and she loves the grass,” said Joseph, who admitted he was considering the possibility of scratching Mrs. Gambolini from the race in lieu of a more lucrative option during the Belmont Stakes Festival early next month at Saratoga.
The 93 Beyer Speed Figure Mrs. Gambolini earned in her 2025 debut is the highest posted by any of the eight fillies and mares entered in the race. Joseph has named Rocco Bowen, who has yet to accept a mount locally, aboard the likely favorite.
“I know Rocco from Barbados and I needed a new rider for this filly since her main rider, Micah Husbands, is currently serving a suspension,” Joseph explained when asked about his choice of jockeys for the likely odds-on favorite.
Call Me Spicy has not run since finishing a distant third over the Tapeta track in a conditioned allowance dash on Aug. 16. Call Me Spicy is winless in nine starts on grass and Tapeta since being claimed for $50,000 by her present connections 21 months earlier.
Great Venezuela proved no match for Mrs. Gambolini as the even-money favorite when the pair met for the first time on April 27. She raced in perfect striking position behind the pacesetting winner before finishing evenly to prove second best after breaking a step slow from the rail. That outing was the first for Great Venezuela since proving a popular come-from-behind, two-length winner of the Lightning City Stakes nine weeks earlier at Tampa Bay Downs.
Tiffany Gold and Drum Roll finished fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Mrs. Gambolini in their most recent start and will try that rival again Sunday with Drum Roll adding blinkers. They complete a field that also includes the outsiders Breezey Bella, Trumpets, and Hurricane Debbie.
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The headliner is one of three races to be decided over turf in the Rainbow 6 sequence along with a pair of head-scratching maiden-claiming events and the finale for bottom-level runners that lured a full field of 12, four of whom have yet to compete over the surface.
The only main-track race in the sequence may be even more daunting for handicappers to solve, a third-level conditioned race for $8,000 claimers led by 8-5 morning-line favorite Secret Lover, who is coming off a series of second-place finishes in the same category. Secret Lover’s record may mean he’ll be vulnerable again, with the speedy Lace Up perhaps the leading candidate to spring an upset, especially if able to get loose on the lead in a lineup lacking much early speed.
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