The Lead:Following a $647.50 Santa Anita Handicap score in this space last week, let's head back to Gulfstream Park, where we've had some Race of the Week success in the past month or so. Saturday's 11-runner turf sprint, the Race 12 Captiva Island Stakes, has few obvious tosses and much balance. That should conspire for very attractive exotics.Horseplayers be sure to take part in the $400 Florida Derby/Santa Anita Derby Challenge Qualifier tournament this Saturday at Xpressbet.com. Also note that Sunday's card to close the weekend will feature a mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6 wager.​​Field Depth:PANDORA'S GIFT is a stakes winner and Grade 2-placed and has kept the strongest strength of schedule overall. MOON SPUN, GREAT VENEZUELA, ME GOVERNOR and TWIRLING QUEEN are listed stakes winners. This is a race with a pretty familiar cast of players.​Pace:MOON SPUN from the rail and TWIRLING QUEEN in post 9 project fastest in the group. TALIESIN could show speed if her dirt form translates to turf. The tempo will be hot with PANDORA'S GIFT and ME GOVERNOR likely in the early hunt. But at 5 furlongs on turf and without a discernable and reputable closer, it's still likely to be one near the engine.Our Eyes:Here are my horse-by-horse notes.#1-MOON SPUN: Rail blazer has won 4 in a row, including 2 stakes at the meet. She’s a pure turf sprinter and eliminates a lot of variables with her draw and style. Javier Castellano has won 32% in turf sprints at the current meet. Trainer Brain Lynch’s 8 stakes wins are most at the meet and his 10 turf sprint stakes wins the last 5 years at Gulfstream dwarf the competition (next-best 4).#2-SUNNA: Jockey Joel Rosario won this race last year and is one of the game’s elite turf sprint jockeys, but this recent non-winners of 2 lifetime claiming winner takes a massive rise in class. Too much to ask, but perhaps in the pace hunt.#3-KARAYA: Winless in 5 local turf starts, but she’s been all around the money. Best performances have been on synthetic, perhaps in part to the surface and the lesser quality y of competition gathered there. Hit the board at 7-1 and 4-1 in turf sprint stakes last winter and goes second off the layoff with a solid post.#4-GREAT VENEZUELA: Well-traveled 5-year-old has won 7 of her last 12 while racing in Florida, New Jersey and California. She’s been a wrecking ball on the Gulfstream synthetic, but 1-for-5 with 4 minor awards on the turf here. Probably has to find a way through from mid-pack in this group and occasionally has run a BRIS late pace figure good enough to make them sweat late.#5-TALIESIN: Dirt performer hasn’t tried turf in 13 starts and picks a difficult spot to see if she fits. She’s had 2 decent tries since moving to the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn, but didn’t see any major upgrade.#6-LE AMAZONIA: Late-running second in the Ladies Turf Sprint at 13-1 odds, she’s almost assured the same kind of tactical blue print behind so much speed in this tougher race. She tapped out in the 85-89 BRIS late pace figure range in multiple turf sprints, which is why she’s been second twice as often (6 times) as she’s won (3). Bottom at best again.#7-FLAMINGO WAY: Late rally has been a bit flat late in turf sprint stakes, but the effort has been there. Clearly improved since coming to Guadalupe Preciado last fall, but just not able to catch up to Moon Spun in 2 similar spots of late. Jockey Jose Morelos is winning 23% in turf sprints at the current GP meet with a positive ROI, so she’s in good hands.#8-ME GOVERNOR: Kind of spun her wheels last out on synthetic and should appreciate the return to turf, where 3 of her 4 career wins have come. Layoff since November brings a fresh 4-year-old to the party and she’s working like she’s sharp. Trainer Carlos Davis is 4-for-7 with limited turf sprinters at the meeting and jockey Mario Gutierrez has been a money rider with 5 stakes wins from just 13 mounts at the Championship Meet.#9-TWIRLING QUEEN: Speedster couldn’t get in front of Moon Spun in the Ladies Turf Sprint and that scenario saw her give way to a well-beaten fourth. Given the posts, she’s like chasing that one into and off the far turn as well. Luis Saez returns to Gulfstream after trying Oaklawn this winter and reunites with a former winning mount.#10-COCO ABARRIO: Allowance winner takes on easily the toughest test of her career from a difficult post. Best trip may require her dropping back farther than usual and trying to make a rally.#11-PANDORA’S GIFT (pictured): September layoff returnee makes her Gulfstream Park debut, but was highly competitive from Keeneland to Saratoga to the Presque Isle Masters on multiple footings. She was a pure turf sprinter in the UK and will be right in hunt off a series of 6 Payson Park workouts on the deep training track. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione’s 8 stakes wins at the current meet lead all riders.Most Likely Exotics Contender:MOON SPUN is 9-for-9 in the trifecta lifetime, undefeated in 3 Gulfstream starts and the rail wins 11% in full-field turf sprints at Gulfstream, second-best to post 6 with 12%.Best Longshot Contender:FLAMINGO WAY and ME GOVERNOR are both 12-1 morning line and offer a ton of appeal as my exotics keys under the logical players.Sending it in ($100 bankroll):$5 trifecta part-wheel MOON SPUN with FLAMINGO WAY, ME GOVERNOR with ALL ($90). $5 exacta part-wheel PANDORA'S GIFT with FLAMINGO WAY, ME GOVERNOR ($90).

The 4-day Cheltenham Festival is one of the world's most prestigious Steeplechase meetings. Watch and wager on all the action with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet each morning Tuesday through Friday this week -- and get 10X 1/ST Rewards Points on all those plays. To get you set for Cheltenham, check out Thursday's free Wager Guide from Timeform.

The “Lucky Strides” promotion this March at 1/ST BET and Xpressbet offers a $10 bonus when you bet $100 or more at select tracks each Tuesday and Thursday. Opening Day of Colonial Downs’ 3-day Virginia Derby Meeting will be the track spotlighted for this Thursday. Here’s how I’ll approach that card with the help of the Betmix Angler database.Colonial Downs: Race 4#1 American Direction (9-2 morning line odds) has shown marked improvement since moving to dirt 2 starts back and note the success of Tampa Bay Downs shippers during last March’s short Colonial Downs stand, going 2-for-2 with a stakes win. Barn changes away from Mott and Clement are in play with this race’s 2 favorites, so they could be vulnerable. Win-place 1.Colonial Downs: Race 8#10 Boost (10-1 morning line odds) was well-backed in his local debut Sept. 1 when Wickedwithbourbon ran everyone into the ground and has gone on to become a stakes-placed sprinter at Fair Grounds. Trainer Robbie Bailes looks to have aimed this one for the comeback spot off a series of Fair Hill and Laurel drills. Bailes ran 5 horses here during the 2025 Colonial spring fling and had a winner and 2 seconds among those (including a 22-1 runner-up). Win-place 10.

EXTRA INCENTIVES10X 1/ST Rewards Points | Cheltenham Festival | today’s racesNOTABLE CARRYOVERSJackpot Pick 5 | $104,236 | Parx | begins Race 1 | 12:40 pm ETJackpot Pick 6 | $60,635 | Turfway | begins Race 5 | 7:55 pm ETJackpot Pick 6 | $101,711 | Turf Paradise | begins Race 3 | 5:11 pm ETLONGSHOT RACE ALERT FROM BETMIXTampa Bay Downs | Race 7 | 3:30 pm ETTurf Paradise | Race 8 | 7:40 pm ETTurfway Park | Race 10 | 10:25 pm ETTRAINERS TO WATCHErnesto Padilla-Preciado | Parx | all 4 entrants 9-2 or less oddsDID YOU SEE?Yesterday | Parx | favorites won 6 of 10 races on the cardPUT US ON YOUR HANDICAPPING TEAMTimeform: Cheltenham Wager Guide for WednesdayFrank Carulli & Brian W. Spencer best bets today in Xpressbet.com member’s section

The 4-day Cheltenham Festival is one of the world's most prestigious Steeplechase meetings. Watch and wager on all the action with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet each morning Tuesday through Friday this week -- and get 10X 1/ST Rewards Points on all those plays. To get you set for Cheltenham, check out the free Wager Guide from Timeform.

After a weekend that arguably saw a couple of 3YOs separate themselves from the pack in Hallandale Beach, it is difficult to say similar about this past Saturday. Tampa Bay Downs and Santa Anita Park took center stage with the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) and San Felipe (G2) both rewarding 50 points to the winner, but both underwhelmed. So, with a light week ahead before the three biggest ones in terms of Triple Crown preps, it is time for another week of “Prep School.”Horse That Disappointed Most on Saturday: BrantUnfortunately, the two Triple Crown preps from last weekend were more about disappointment than they were success. Sure, The Puma out finished Canaletto and Further Ado to break his maiden in the Tampa Bay Derby and Potente got by longshot Robusta late to earn his first stakes win at Santa Anita, but neither race impressed from a visual or data perspective. Further Ado’s lack of serious energy late despite a clean stalking trip and Powershift’s no show both stood out in Oldsmar, but it is nearly impossible to look past Brant when it comes to the biggest disappointment from the past weekend. Sure, plenty of horseplayers had questions about the $3M son of Gun Runner’s ability to get a route of ground, but he put it in a total clunker finishing fifth beaten nearly seven lengths at odds-on. It is likely trainer Bob Baffert opts to cut the Zedan Racing Stables colt back in distance and perhaps shoot for the Pat Day Mile (G2), but either way he was highly disappointing on Saturday afternoon.Horse That Ran on Saturday Most Likely to Win a Triple Crown Race: NoneHeading into last weekend, it was easy to make the case that horses like Canaletto and Further Ado were amongst the 3YOs likely to visit the winner’s circle in one of the three Triple Crown races this spring. As of Sunday morning, it was more difficult. Some racing fans will make the case that Canaletto’s effort in Florida was better than looks on paper given his ground loss and the way the track played earlier in the card, but I cannot get there. Sure, it is never ideal to be caught wide into the first turn in your first two-turn try, but the same was true for The Puma suggesting this is a race that actually favored those from off the pace and off the rail. This directly conflicts with the way the racing surface played earlier in the card, but reportedly there was a decent amount of rain that very likely changed the track. Either way it is hard for me to be convinced that two of the three top finishers fought what would have been a pretty decent bias had it been conducted just a few hours earlier. The top three are far from chopped liver, but are horses I will let beat me going a classic distance at the highest level in the coming months.Horse With Most to Prove This Weekend: IncrediboltThe lone race rewarding points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard takes place at Colonial Downs on Saturday. The Virginia Derby drew a field of ten with runners from some of the biggest barns set to make the voyage to the Commonwealth in an attempt to earn a spot in the Derby starting gate. Some of the top contenders in this year’s Virginia Derby had high hopes coming into 2026, but disappointed in their last start. #7 Incredibolt tops that list. The Pin Oak Stud colt ended his 2YO campaign with a pair of impressive off-the-pace victories at Churchill Downs for trainer Riley Mott. He made his return in the Holy Bull (G3) where he went off at odds of 7-2, but failed to run a step. The son of Bolt d’Oro almost ran too poor to believe, so perhaps it was the racing surface or just not his day. Regardless, it is basically now or never for the $75,000 Keeneland September ’24 purchase that made such a positive impression in the Blue Grass State just a short time ago. A strong performance here and a lot about his run in Florida will be forgotten. Another dud and perhaps we see him move to the grass in the spring time.

EXTRA INCENTIVESBet $100, Get $10 | Turf Paradise | today’s racesNOTABLE CARRYOVERSJackpot Pick 5 | $75,436 | Parx | begins Race 1 | 12:40 pm ETJackpot Pick 6 | $75,586 | Mahoning Valley | begins Race 3 | 1:11 pm ETJackpot Pick 6 | $79,331 | Turf Paradise | begins Race 3 | 5:15 pm ETKEY RACESWill Rogers Downs | Race 8 | 5:29 pm ET | Welder StakesLONGSHOT RACE ALERT FROM BETMIXWill Rogers Downs | Race 6 | 4:30 pm ETParx | Race 10 | 4:43 pm ETTurf Paradise | Race 8 | 7:47 pm ETTRAINERS TO WATCHJay Bernardini | Mahoning Valley | 4 of 5 entrants 4-1 or less oddsDID YOU SEE?Yesterday | Will Rogers Downs | jockey David Cabrera | 4 wins, 1 second in 7 startsPUT US ON YOUR HANDICAPPING TEAMJeremy Plonk: Turf Paradise Bet $100, Get $10 Picks for TuesdayFrank Carulli & Brian W. Spencer best bets today in Xpressbet.com member’s section

The “Lucky Strides” promotion this March at 1/ST BET and Xpressbet offers a $10 bonus when you bet $100 or more at select tracks each Tuesday and Thursday. Turf Paradise will be the track spotlighted for this Tuesday. Here’s how I’ll approach that card with the help of the Betmix Angler database.Turf Paradise: Race 7#3 Love That Witch (6-1 morning line odds) looks for back-to-back wins since joining the Wade Rarick barn in Arizona and adding blinkers. The trainer has gone wild with a 21: 10-3-2 mark at Turf Paradise over the past month – including 6: 4-1-0 teamed with jockey Orlando Mojica during that span. Win #3. Daily Double 3-4 to next play.Turf Paradise: Race 8#4 Halo Uncle (5-1 morning line odds) races first time off the claim for a Wendell Matt barn that suddenly has gotten hot. An 11% outfit is 7: 3-0-3 since Feb. 21 with $5, $10, $37 winners and the only horse to miss the money was 49-1 odds. I like seeing regular rider Kiaman McGregor stick with the mount through the trainer change. Win-place #4.