Creative singles for the $400,559 Rainbow 6 carryover at Gulfstream Park

Racing resumes at Gulfstream Park on Wednesday with a 10-race card highlighted by a $400,559 carryover in the Rainbow Pick 6.

It’s always helpful to find a trustworthy single or two when playing the Rainbow 6; this way, you can spread deep in the most challenging legs while still keeping the ticket cost reasonable. But singling 3-5 favorites can be defeating in a sense, because virtually every bettor will play these obvious choices, making it difficult to construct the unique winning ticket necessary to sweep the whole carryover jackpot.

With this in mind, let’s go over the Wednesday Rainbow 6 sequence and look for “creative” singles—non-favored runners who nevertheless hold strong chances of winning. If we can get one or two of these nice-priced singles home on top, we’ll have a better chance to sweep the Rainbow 6 jackpot.

Race 6: $50,000 Starter Optional Claiming (1 mile, 3:09 p.m. ET)

There’s certainly plenty of speed among the seven 3-year-old fillies entered in this starter optional claiming race. Five have shown a tendency to set or press the pace, and a sixth—morning line favorite #3 Sunny Isle Beach (5-2)—also likes to be in touch early on. So why not take a shot with #4 Celestial Cheetah (9-2), the only genuine closer in the field?

A daughter of Social Inclusion, who owns the track record for 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream, Celestial Cheetah never fired when finishing last over a sloppy track in the Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct last month. But she’d never previously missed the exacta in three starts at Delaware Park, most notably winning a 1-mile maiden special weight by 3 1/2 lengths over future two-time stakes winner Laobanonaprayer.

Celestial Cheetah will face easier competition at Gulfstream and should enjoy a perfect pace setup. At 9-2, she can be a valuable single in the Rainbow 6.

Race 10: $20,000 Maiden Claiming (5 furlongs on turf, 5:13 p.m. ET)

Did you know 43% of 5-furlong turf sprints at Gulfstream are won in gate-to-wire fashion? Speed is a major asset over this configuration, and #8 Discreet Tune (7-2) looks like the “speed of the speed” in Wedesday’s maiden claiming dash.

A front-running 4-year-old, Discreet Tune has shown serious speed in all three of his starts sprinting 5 furlongs on turf. Just last month he finished third in a $20,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream, beaten four lengths after tracking blazing fractions of :21.32 and :43.86.

There doesn’t appear to be quite as much pace in Wednesday’s field, and Discreet Tune fits well in terms of Brisnet Speed ratings. I’m optimistic he can steal a gate-to-wire victory under jockey Paco Lopez.

Good luck!