Saturday is shaping up to be a day-long action fest at The Meadowlands.
The gates will open at 8:30 a.m. to accommodate wagering on the Dubai World Cup card, Victory Sports Bar will offer discounted food and drink all day and night for the Sweet Sixteen round of March Madness, the $1 million Louisiana Derby opens the final round of prep races for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, and there are a dozen live races beginning at 7:15 p.m.
However, the pièce de résistance on this action-filled day is the chance to hit “The Big One” with Gulfstream’s Rainbow Six pool now in excess of $4 million. Saturday has been set as the mandatory payout day for the bet, which means the pool will be paid out regardless of how many winners there are. Usually, the pool continues to carry over until a day when there is just one winning ticket.
Assuming nobody prematurely takes down the carryover on Friday’s card, Saturday’s pool is expected to climb over the $10 million mark. In theory, a horseplayer could have an even better day than the owner who wins $6 million for finishing first in the Dubai World Cup!
The Rainbow 6, with just a 20-cent minimum, consists of Gulfstream’s last six races Saturday, races seven through 12 (preliminary fields of 14, 15, 12, 14, 11, and 16). First post at Gulfstream is 12:35 p.m.
The Meadowlands live races are the usual mix of large, well matched fields. The featured seventh race will see emerging talent Pansformative face his toughest test to date. Having climbed the condition ladder with remarkable ease, Pansformative is but a head away from a four race win streak for new owner Carly Roman, who bought the lightly raced four-year-old gelding just over a month ago. Brett Miller will drive for trainer Richie Johnson.
Pansformative will find a millionaire to the left of him and one to his right as the venerable war horses Dynamic Youth (post two) and Real Nice (post six) lay in waiting. Dynamic Youth has collected more than $1.1 million in career earnings and boasts a résumé that includes the 2012 Cane Pace. Racing out of the Ron Burke barn, the prospect of driving Dynamic Youth lured Joe Bongiorno away from Pansformative despite his win streak.
Real Nice, at age 11, has earned nearly $1.4 million the hard way and equalled his career-best 1:49.4 earlier this season, so he hasn’t lost much off his fastball for trainer Scott Blackler.
The presence of a rejuvenated Mel Mara coming in to this off a punishing 1:49.1 win last week adds intrigue to the race.
Free Late Pick 4 program pages are available here.
(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)