Florida Group 1 Jai Alai Turf (Race ID: 3012552)

Are these horses as hard as a Jai Alai Player?

By Darcy “Dingo” MacPhee

Wednesday: 11:30 am Miami Airport

Arriving at Miami International Airport, finds your intrepid reporter in a very good mood. After 5 days, in Bossier City Louisiana for the Grade 3 Silver Bullet Beer Stakes last Saturday, where the beer was free and “Freakfire” kindly romped home by over 2 lengths filling this writer’s pockets with crisp new Benjamin Franklins. (Hitting the exacta also, did nothing to lighten that load but sure lightened my mood).

Wednesday: 2:30 pm Turnberry Resort and Spa

I must commend my PA Melissa back in Australia, when I called her last Sunday and told her my plans for the week, I said spare no expense book me into the best resort close to the track. Melissa you outdid yourself, you must have used that gift of the gab all Aussies are renowned for, as soon as I told reception my name the red carpet came out. First they told me that I was being given a free upgrade from King Room to a Suite, not any old suite mind you, but one of the 1 bedroom Presidential King Suites overlooking the Golf Course with aa Private balcony, and then handed me a Gold Pass for the resort.

They were so welcoming I wasn’t even asked for my credit card (luckily as I am a cash only man), but I am also a wise man and know that in my game there are upswings and downswings in the cash availability stakes, so I tossed the receptionist a 5k stack of those Benjamins, “take one for yourself and put the rest to my Tab”.

Wednesday: 4:15 pm My Room

Now here we are out on my balcony looking out over a perfectly manicured golf course, preparing to cover some more great racing this weekend out at Florida’s Home of Thoroughbred Racing – Gulfstream Park.  With three separate Grade 3 Stakes races as the undercard to the main event the Grade 1 Jai Alai Park Turf Classic for 4 year olds and up over the gruelling trip of 11 furlongs (2200 metres), a big day of racing is expected.

My first instinct is to think who is this Jai Alai fellow, what makes him so famous as to get a Group 1 Race named after him? A few a ball thrown by your opponent in a cane scoop attached to your wrist and in a single fluid motion throwing it back against a huge front wall. The ball known as a “Pelota” is about ¾ the size of a baseball and harder than a golf ball, and when thrown from a “cesta” (the scoop) often reaches speeds in excess of 150 mph (240 kmh) with a recorded maximum velocity of 188 mph (300 kmh).

Originating in the autonomous Basque region of Spain this game is known for the serious injuries and even deaths that have occurred while playing, it is also known for the gambling that takes place during the games. It’s popularity in Southern Florida over many years has come and gone, but is currently on another upswing in it’s popularity. With “frontons” (jai Alai courts) re-opening alongside Casinos and Racetracks especially in Florida.

Rather than rattling on about the origins of Jai Alai (pronounced Hy-uh-ly) I will link you to an old Orson Welles 1955 documentary called

seconds of fingers flying over my laptop’s keyboard using the wonderful world of “Google” I find that Jai Alai isn’t a person, but a sport, but not just any old sport, an extremely fast and very dangerous sport. Briefly, it consists of catching

 “Around The World with Orson Welles – La Pelote Basque”

A very interesting watch both for its content and its 1950’s style of presentation

Thursday: 4:45 pm Relaxing Time

After treating myself to a sleep in and then having room service bring me breakfast in bed at 10:15 am I spent a relaxing day watching the fillies parading. No not the four legged ones, the two legged ones parading around the resort pool. I have just darted back to my room for a relaxing massage (apparently the resort Gold Pass includes complimentary masseuse services). Then it will be down to the bar for a pre-dinner drink with a certain member of the bookmaking fraternity (more on that later)

Friday: 5:35 am Gulfstream Park

Completely different to yesterday morning the alarm rattled my still groggy brain at just after 4am. After spending most of the night with a certain person from the bookmaking fraternity who cannot be named (only so his wife never finds out he wasn’t really up in Orlando visiting his sick Aunt Teresa), here we are at the track for the morning breeze outs. The things I put myself through just to get the solid for you my readers, you just wouldn’t believe unless I told you!

Friday 8:15 pm My Room at Turnberry Resort

After a rugged day of interviews peering into stables sneaking around the jockey’s room among other nefarious activities, we have what I believe could be ….. well let us not get ahead of ourselves and give out any spoilers, read on my intrepid readers….

The horses in tomorrows Race, that is really why you are isn’t it, so let us begin

Gate 1. A GIANT STAR has been bouncing around between Group 1 and 2 races for almost a year now in fact for 6 straight races, meeting with a single success in the Group 2 Colonial Derby in Vermont last July. He followed up that win with a fighting 2^nd before completely going off the boil at his next 2 starts. So last start trainer “asrstar2” dropped him all the way back to an NW3L Allowance to give him a confidence building canter winning by just under 4 lengths. Two of his 3 wins have been at 10 furlongs the other was his maiden start over 5 furlongs where he beat nothing of any consequence. With only 1 run beyond 10.5 furlongs ( the 2022 Japan Derby over 12 f) being a 13 + length failure everyone wants to forget his 22/1 outsider of the field odds seem accurate.

Gate 2.GLENOAKS It is though trainer “jtlracing” reads the same playbook as the 1 horse’s trainer 6 of his last 7 starts being at Group level in the same time frame 11 months and a single allowance run this time at NW2s conditions to build confidence (resulting in a 3 length win). With no wins but cashing a cheque in 5 of those 6 Group albeit 4 of which were for 4^th or 5^th. The upside being the form was over trips between 11 and 12 furlongs and the worst result 6^th was over the shorter 10 furlongs. Being kept safe by the oddsmakers as one of the 3 equal favourites at 6/1, he is not without his supporters.

Gate 3. ANTIGUA ADELE Winner of 4 of his last 7 and 8 of 16 starts lifetime, we get to one of the more likely to succeed runners. With a Group 1 win over 12 furlongs attached to his resume coming just 2 starts back, this once claimer and allowance HOT race runner has made the transition to the big time. Trainer “toucheamore” had an inspirational hunch way back in November 2021 when he smashed his piggy bank to shell out 250BP’s and $125,000 to claim this then entire – a quick snip and entire no more – now a gelding but no longer will he see the claiming paddock except to snicker at the lesser lives as he walks by on the outside. At 7/1 3 tied on the second line of betting with 2 others, he definitely represents value for the discerning punter. (Also note he is on the right side of a win one lose one pattern)

Gate 4. I’M THE ANSWER This guy is just like the previous runner, he is on a win one lose one streak of 4 straight a win here would stretch that to a 5 streak. A convincing win 4 starts back in the Group 2 Del Web Hcp over this 11 furlong trip certainly is decent enough reason for trainer “mthgrs3” to feel just a little smug about his horse’s chances tomorrow. Is there a downside to this horse? Not that I can find, only question is….. is his upside better than some of his rivals? Another of the 7/1 shots he is a definite chance in this open field of 12.

Gate 5. RED BRENIN Watching the fluidity of his stride this morning was a surreal experience this massive colt just seemed to float effortlessly around the track. It wasn’t until you checked your stopwatch you realised how good this horse is. Then you look at his form, and then you take another look just to be sure you read it right. 5 starts to break his Maiden but never out of the top 3 – Then crunch Allowance, Listed Stakes, Listed Stakes, Group 3 and then Group 2 ALL of them effortless wins over 11 or 12 furlongs. With an average winning margin of just a smidgeon under 4 lengths. Even his trainer “riponred” has no idea just how good this colt is, but today’s race will go a long way to showing everyone. He also seems to snuck in under the bookmakers guard as the 3^rd of our 7/1 shots.

Gate 6. WITH ME NOW Trainer “cohn” seems to have picked up on a very peculiar trait his horse has. With 11 starts on Dirt tracks and only 5 on the Turf, we see that 3 of his 4 wins have been on the Turf. What we also notice is that every time “cohn” has switched from dirt to Turf it has resulted in this big 5yo Bay Horse winning, and you guessed it, his last start was on the Dirt. As I happen to know this trainer due to the fact that this horse is representing the fledgling Down Under Racing (DUR) Residency that has emerged in the past 2 to 3 weeks the inside scoop is that 10/1 is definitely over the odds.

So now is as good a time as any to release the news – your intrepid journo has been appointed staff writer for DUR so keep an eye out for specific articles about this new Res. Coming Soon to a tabloid near you!

Gate 7. BLACKROSE PRISON Last start was a strong closing 3^rd over 13 furlongs in the Group 1 Japanese Winter Cup. The preceding run was the last of a 5-race winning streak (all over Saturdays race distance of 11 furlongs) in The Singapore Cup. One of the triple 6/1 favourites sees trainer “simsters2” looking very relaxed having the most recently successful Group 1 horse in Saturday’s race. This another horse with a great chance in probably one of the most open races we have seen here in Florida in a couple of decades.

Gate 8. WESTPAC EMPEROR Now one just has to wonder if owner and trainer “mastermbp” was having some financial issues at the time of naming this horse, did his bank put a lien him, hence the name (Westpac being one of the BIG 3 Banks in Australia). One thing is for sure with over $1.6 million in prize money he has definitely paid off the mortgage for the “masterm” household.

After deciding to take on the Group Race circuit 5 starts back with a fine 3 length win in the NZ Group 3 Great Beer Cap over 11 furlongs (proving the old adage an Aussie is never far from his Beer), he moved on to win 2 of his next 4 races at the pinnacle, Group 1. The last of our 6/1 equal favourites, another who warrants utmost respect tomorrow.

Gate 9. WHISKYMAKER Having been just over 4 months since his last start, when trainer “cadet2” stepped this rather plain looking 5yo Bay Horse, up to Group Class when he finished as he looks a rather average middle of the pack 6^th. That was only the 2^nd time in 13 starts he finished outside the top 3, and the first time he didn’t earn a check to pay for his feed. A model of consistency he heads to the post tomorrow a 13/1 chance, but he will have to step up some to compete against this hot field

Gate 10. THE KELLY POOL With his only try at Group level being 2 starts back, with a 4^th place in the Group 2 Carlton Fisk (over 12 lengths from the winner) He comes here with a lot of hope but sadly very little chance. Ever the optimist trainer “agk04” has made some gear changes (sources close to the stable tell me they have put a winker on him for tomorrow, purely because the horse is a little cross-eyed). Starting at 12/1, his best form has definitely been in Allowance classes, with a solitary place in a Listed Stakes race.

Gate 11. DEVIOUS KICK Another of tomorrow’s horses who seems best suited at Allowance level, in fact of recent times it seems a certain win for trainer “texasace12”. However as all trainers do, they have belief in their and their horses abilities, so bypassing Listed Stakes jumped right to Group 3 for a promising 2^nd 4 starts back. So “texasace12” thought why not lets go up 1 more step unfortunately he stepped down to 3^rd. Only thing to do was go up the last step, and surprised? No! stepped down to 4^th and doubled how far from the winner. So back to allowances last start for one of those confidence building wins that seems to be a trend among some of the trainers with horses in tomorrow’s race. Under the odds at 10/1, he won’t be seeing any of my money.

Gate 12. ALWAYS DRILLING Coming out of the Tyedye Master stable via trainer “superman99” we can see the boss still yearns for the halcyon days of BIG OIL with the naming of this fine specimen of horse flesh. As a 2yo colt this horse was tried over the grass track and showed a lot of promise, however most of his 3 yo year was spent on the dirt tracks of North America, and after 2 less than average tries at Group level was swapped back to the grass for his last 2 starts of 2022. These resulted in 2 conclusive wins and a massive jump in his SP ratings. So is it a leap of faith to have his first run as a 4yo in tomorrow’s Jai Alai? At 9/1 the bookmakers are definitely worried he might.

Saturday 01:20 am Laptop Closed Article Written:

Well my faithful readers, if you have read this far, firstly I thank you for your persistence and loyalty  and then say you must be as tired as I am right now. The only thing left to do is see if I can help you all make a few dollars later today at the track.

This would have to be one of the toughest fields I have had to handicap, but with a lot of effort and hopefully good information I have come up with the following

GO TO THE BAR!

That really is the best advice I have, but like me you like the punt, so here we go

Each Way: At 10/1 the 6 horse With Me Now appeals as the Value Bet of the race

Win: Has to be the 5 horse Red Brenin to make it 6 in a row and at 7/1 well what can anyone say

So in order for me it is 5 from the 6 and the 12

Night all

Darcy “Dingo” MacPhee