Saturday, October 4, 2025
HALLANDALE BEACH - Multiple stakes-winning 8-year-old mare Choose Joy, unraced in 435 days, made a dramatic triumphant return by rallying from far back to edge Etrurian by a head in Friday’s feature at Gulfstream Park.
Ridden by Miguel Vasquez for owner-trainer Steve Dwoskin, Choose Joy ($14.60) completed five furlongs on the all-weather Tapeta course in :55.93 seconds for her 10th win from 27 career starts. The optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older was moved off the grass following overnight rain.
“I’d rather it had been on the turf, but she’d had some good races on the Tapeta. I knew she was ready,” Dwoskin said. “She was fit, and she’s just a good horse.”
Choose Joy was unhurried early, trailing all but one horse as Etrurian led her stablemate and narrow 2-1 favorite Beauty of the Sea through a quarter-mile in :21.53 seconds and a half in :43.76. Vasquez swung Choose Joy to the far outside leaving the far turn and they came with a steady run down the center of the stretch to catch Etrurian at the wire.
In a career marked by stops and starts, Choose Joy hasn’t raced since she was third as the favorite behind a pair of next-out winners in a five-furlong optional claimer on Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta last July 26. She now has been third or better in seven of eight tries over Tapeta, with three wins.
Dwoskin purchased Choose Joy for $35,000 at auction in 2019, and Friday’s $27,000 winner’s share of the purse pushed her career bankroll to $439,745.
“I’m very proud of her,” he said. “She keeps getting closer to half a million [dollars].”
Rainbow 6 Solved Friday for $143,083 Jackpot Payout
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 was solved by one lucky bettor for a $143,083.80 jackpot payout Friday.
The last multiple mandatory payouts of $8,569.28 came on Sept. 14, and the multi-race wager had gone unsolved for five racing days.
Joey Platts’ Call Me Angel ($13.40), ridden by Elijah Greenidge, captured Race 10 finale to complete the winning 2-7-3-3-3-8 combination. It was Ocala trainer Terry Oliver’s first win since April 10, 2011, also at Gulfstream
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