The Sunset 6 wager that covers the last three races at Gulfstream and Santa Anita proved too difficult for bettors to solve last Saturday and Sunday. The good news is that the $1 wager will begin with a $20,491 pool and a mandatory payout this Friday, Oct. 2. Two turf races at each track are part of the sequence, so keep tabs on the weather at Gulfstream with a 60-percent chance of rain in the advance forecast.
Gulfstream Park, Race 7 (3:30 p.m. EST)
BERT’S KNOTY GIRL chased the pace-controlling favorite and ‘dug in’ to hold third after the sharp winner blew past them both in the Miss Gracie Stakes at this distance. She met 10 next-out winners – five in stakes company – with an average 77 Beyer since her maiden victory on a ‘good’ turf at one mile. DEL MAR SUNRISE was bottled up in traffic in the final quarter mile under the same conditions two starts back. She finished with good energy when free in late stretch while no match for odds-on favorite Striking Finale, who surpassed six figures in turf earnings with a follow-up allowance win.
Gulfstream Park, Race 8 (4:04 p.m. EST)
KING CAB is worth a price look in his first start for trainer Victor Barboza Jr., who won with two first-time starters and two others on the barn switch last weekend at Gulfstream. He is a two-time stakes winner and arrives for his first start as a 7-year-old off a series of fast workouts. But MISH, still going strong at age 9 with a 12-for-27 record at Gulfstream and $729k bankroll, draws favorably in a speed-laden field and is strictly the one to beat despite a photo-finish setback last out.
Gulfstream Park, Race 9 (4:36 p.m. EST)
HAPPY MEMORIES chased the winning favorite and a runner-up who followed with an impressive victory in a fast-paced debut, then he rallied at 6-1/2F but couldn’t reach the winning favorite in his second start. He figures tough if he handles his first turf assignment. JEAN LAFFITE returns to the turf after fading in a route race on the Tapeta track. He saved ground behind the dueling leaders on the turn in his debut and stayed on gamely to finish second to the 2-to-5 winner at 5F.
Santa Anita Race 7 (7:05 p.m. EST)
CANTO DELLA TERRA has two photo-finish sprint victories and a second in non-graded stakes at 1-1/16 miles since her U.S. arrival. Trainer Phil D’Amato has sent out 88 turf winners at Santa Anita since 2025. RAW ABILITY raced evenly through the stretch as the beaten 2-to-5 favorite at this distance, but she should get a much livelier pace to rally into in today’s six-horse field.
Santa Anita Race 8 (7:37 p.m. EST)
We are going 7-deep in this field of unproven long sprinters for California sired 3-year-old fillies in hopes that the Sunset 6 ticket is still alive.
Santa Anita Race 9 (8:07 p.m. EST)
ROYAL PEARL, a $425,000 sales buy, gave way chasing next-out Del Mar Debutante winner Miss Monica in her debut, then she raced 4-wide on the turn and lacked stretch kick against another runaway Bob Baffert-trained winning favorite at 6F. But she could awaken on the surface switch and stretch out in distance. Her sire, Mandaloun, was a multiple graded stakes-winning dirt router whose offspring are 3-10 in turf routes; her dam, Candy Sioux, is a half sister to hard-hitting turf allowance sprinter All I Want Is You (4-17, $274k on turf). Trainer Michael McCarthy is 13/3-2-1 since August 2025 with sprint-to-route grass runners.
Suggested Sunset 6
GP 7th Race: 1, 4
GP 8th race: 1, 7
GP 9th Race: 3, 6
SA 7th Race: 2, 5
SA 8th Race: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10
SA 9th Race: 4
Cost for a $1 Ticket: $112
.svg){kind=logo}
