Gonzalez Hoping to Score First Grade 1 with Completed Pass in Jaipur
Racing Moves to Three-Day Week for Remainder of Preakness Meet
Advance Wagering for Belmont Stakes Day Program Available Friday

BALTIMORE – Unsolved during a special Memorial Day holiday program, when the total pool surpassed the $1 million mark, the 20-cent Rainbow 6 had its Maryland state record carryover jackpot approach $900,000 for the return of live racing Friday at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The Rainbow 6 pool is expected to top $1 million for the second straight racing day, building on a carryover of $895,264.82 from Monday’s program. Friday’s sequence begins with 2-year-old fillies on the dirt and features full fields in a pair of races scheduled for the grass.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico’s spring meet, the Rainbow 6 had its previous state record carryover reach $345,898.33 spanning 31 racing programs before being solved by one lucky bettor for a life-changing $399,545.94 payout April 15, 2018 at Laurel Park. The winning ticket was purchased through Maine off-track betting.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Post time for the first of eight races Friday is 12:40 p.m. The Rainbow 6 begins in Race 3, a waiver maiden claimer for juvenile fillies sprinting five furlongs that attracted a field of seven including the Kevin Boniface-trained entry of homebreds Evangeline Allons and Sommer Velvet. Sommer Velvet is one of three horses not in for a tag, along with R. Larry Johnson-bred and owned Clouds of White and Magic in Me, both first-time starters for trainer Mike Trombetta.

Race 4 is a six-furlong starter allowance for 3-year-olds and up led by 7-5 program favorite To the Front, a six-figure earner that has finished in the top three in 14 of 19 career starts but is racing first time for trainer Derrick Goetz. Trainer Anthony Aguirre counters from outside Post 6 with Unequivocal, cutting back after running third by less than a length in a similar spot going 1 1/16 miles May 21 at Pimlico.

Nine horses 3 and up were entered in Race 5, an open, entry-level allowance carded at one mile on the grass. Dig Charlie Dig, trained and co-owned by Jamie Ness, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite from Post 1, looking to break a nine-race winless streak dating back to last fall. The 7-year-old gelding has earned nearly $250,000 in purses from 46 starts with five wins and 14 seconds, four of them coming during the recent drought. He has two seconds and two thirds from nine previous tries on turf. Uncle Andrew is unraced since rallying to be fourth in the 5 ½-furlong Punch Line for Virginia-breds last October at Laurel Park.

Marshall E. Dowell’s Speightster Red, an $85,000 son of champion sprinter Speightstown, is favored to graduate in his fifth career start in Race 6, a six-furlong maiden claimer for horses 3, 4 and 5. Plissken drops in off a seventh in maiden special weight company April 9 at Laurel for trainer Brittany Russell. Dialing Dixie, a 3-year-old Maryland homebred son of Grade 1 winner Dialed In, is entered to make his debut from outside Post 6.

James Wolf’s 4-year-old gelding Titan’s Will seeks his fourth consecutive win for a fourth different trainer in Race 7, a 1 1/16-mile starter-optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up. Titan’s Will began his streak March 21 with a 5 ¾-length triumph going one mile at Laurel, and was claimed away from Brittany Russell. He won April 25 for Andres Garibay Sr. and was claimed again, then scored in a similar spot May 9 for Anthony Farrior, both times at Pimlico. He will be racing first time for Derrick Goetz.

Among the competition are Glengar, coming back seven days off a front-running three-quarter-length triumph at Pimlico for trainer Joel Maldonado; Other Things Equal, beaten by Titan’s Will in each of his last two starts; and Jamie Ness-trained entrymate Bellarmine Hall.

The Rainbow 6 wraps up in Race 8, a claiming event for maidens aged 3, 4 and 5 scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on the grass, which also serves as the opening leg of the weekly national Stronach 5 wager that continues with races from Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields.

Narrowly favored at 4-1 in the program is Marshall E. Dowell’s Tipyourhattothat, a 3-year-old Congrats gelding that has run second three times in six previous starts but will be trying turf for the first time. Rip It LLC’s eponymous 3-year-old Tapit colt, bred by Juddmonte Farms, also has six prior races having most recently finished second against older horses in a one-mile maiden claimer on the Pimlico turf May 13.

Gonzalez Hoping to Score First Grade 1 with Completed Pass in Jaipur

Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland’s winningest trainer each of the past four years and leader of the ongoing Preakness Meet at historic Pimlico Race Course, will go after his first career Grade 1 triumph with Robert Bone’s multiple stakes winner Completed Pass in Saturday’s Jaipur at Belmont Park.

Completed Pass, a 7-year-old gelding, drew Post 3 in a field of 12 including main-track-only entrant Secret Rules and was installed at 12-1 on the morning line for the Jaipur, contested at six furlongs on Belmont’s inner turf course. The 2-1 program favorite is April 3 Shakertown (G3) winner Bound for Nowhere, trained by Wesley Ward.

This year, Completed Pass won the King T. Leatherbury by three-quarters of a length April 24 at Pimlico in his season debut. He hopped in the air when the starting gate opened and was off slowly in the May 15 Jim McKay Turf Sprint but rallied to be third, beaten 1 ½ lengths by Firecrow.

“We decided with the owner to run over there because of how he ran the last time. He ran really good. To me, if he breaks good that day he wins the race,” Gonzalez said. “That’s why we want to give him the opportunity with the big guys and see if we can get lucky. When you run in the big races you have to have everything go right to win the race. We’re going to try.”

Completed Pass won the McKay in 2019 and finished fifth in that year’s Parx Dash (G3), his only previous graded-stakes attempt. He also won the 5 ½-furlong Laurel Dash in 2020 at Laurel Park.

Bred in Indiana, Completed Pass will be making his 23rd career start but first without Lasix. He has nine wins, four seconds, three thirds and $408,320 in purse earnings, with six of his wins – and all of his stakes – coming since joining Gonzalez to start the 2019 campaign.

“It’ll be the first time he’s not going to run with Lasix, but for everybody it’s the same. Some horses need it a little more than the others,” Gonzalez said. “For me, that’s going to be a big question. You never know.”

Maryland-based jockey Angel Cruz will make the trip to New York to keep the mount on Completed Pass, his sixth straight ride and seventh in the last eight races. They have teamed up for three wins including the Laurel Dash and Leatherbury.

“He wanted to come, because he loves the horse. And he knows the horse better than anybody,” Gonzalez said. “When the owner and I asked him, he said yes right away.”

Completed Pass will give Gonzalez a contender on another of racing’s biggest days, having run in the McKay on the undercard of the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1). Later Saturday, Preakness winner Rombauer will be among eight 3-year-olds to complete the Triple Crown series in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

Gonzalez owns graded wins with Chublicious in the 2017 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3), Fly On Angel in the 2020 Charles Town Oaks (G3) and Harpers First Ride in the 2020 Pimlico Special (G3).

“It’s a big day, one of the biggest in the country for racing like Kentucky and the Preakness. To be there is not easy but I believe he belongs in the race,” Gonzalez said. “If the horse has a better trip last time, he’s going to win the race. My horse is 12-1, but anybody has a chance to win the race. It’s an open race.”

Racing Moves to Three-Day Week for Remainder of Preakness Meet

Starting Friday, live racing moves to a three-day week through the end of the extended Preakness Meet at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Live racing will be conducted Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through June 27. The Preakness Meet had originally been slated to end May 31, but was approval was sought and given for additional days due to ongoing renovations on the main track at Laurel Park.

Post time will remain 12:40 p.m.

The Sunday, June 13 program will feature five stakes worth $475,000 in purses led by the $100,000 Shine Again, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3 and up that is part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

All four remaining stakes are scheduled for the turf. Going a route of ground are the $100,000 Searching at 1 ½ miles for females 3 and up and $100,000 Prince George’s County for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. Sprinters will go five furlongs in the $100,000 Stormy Blues for 3-year-old fillies and $75,000 Ben’s Cat for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for all five stakes Thursday, June 10.

Advance Wagering for Belmont Stakes Day Program Available Friday

The Maryland Jockey Club is offering advance wagering Friday on Saturday’s complete Belmont Stakes Day program from Belmont Park.

Post time for the first of eight live races at historic Pimlico Race Course Friday is 12:40 p.m.

Advance wagering on the Belmont Stakes Day program includes the Belmont Stakes Festival Two-Day Pick 6 and the Belmont Stakes Festival Two-Day Pick 4. The two-day Pick 6 consists of Friday’s True North (G2), New York (G2) and Belmont Gold Cup (G2) and Saturday’s Jaipur (G1), Met Mile (G1) and Belmont (G1). The two-day Pick 4 combines Friday’s New York and Belmont Gold Cup with Saturday’s Manhattan (G1) and Belmont.

In addition, there will be advance wagering on four two-day doubles combining the Belmont Gold Cup and Belmont Stakes, the New York and Met Mile, the Bed o’Roses (G3) and Acorn (G1), and True North and Woody Stephens (G1).

Pimlico will open its doors at 11 a.m. Saturday to accommodate Belmont Park’s 11:35 a.m. post time. Post time for the Belmont Stakes, Race 11 of 13, is 6:49 p.m.