Friday, May 23, 2025
HALLANDALE BEACH - Monster lived up to his name today at Gulfstream Park, graduating by nine lengths with a sizzling gate-to-wire performance in a five-furlong maiden special weight for 2-year-olds on turf.
The Jose D’Angelo-trained colt also continued the impressive early-season success of Pleasant Acres' first-crop sire Leinster, while cutting out fractions of :20.82 and :43.21 seconds for the first half mile on his way to a final clocking of :55.14 under Edgard Zayas.
Arindel’s Monster was making his third career start and his first on turf. He debuted at Keeneland with a troubled fourth-place finish at 4 ½ furlongs on April 7 at Keeneland. The Florida-bred colt showed speed while prompting the pace before fading to sixth in the five-furlong Kentucky Juvenile on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
Monster, the 7-10 favorite in a field of eight, prepared for the stellar effort with a five-furlong breeze in 33 seconds on the turf at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.
“I really liked this horse from Day 1 – that’s why I brought him to Kentucky. He didn’t run the way I was expecting,” D’Angelo said. “I said, ‘Lets bring the horse back to Florida and work him on the grass.’ The horse worked in 33, showing he’s 100-percent grass.”
Leinster was 100-percent grass, himself, winning four graded-stakes on turf, including his career finale in the 2021, Gr. III Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint. The Rusty Arnold-trained son of Majestic Warrior had finished third in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in his prior start.
Leinster is also the sire of Lennilu, who captured the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, and Squire, the runner-up in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile, on the Gulfstream Park turf course. Leinster stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Morriston, where his 2025 stud fee was $2,500.
Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout Set for Sunday
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 went unsolved at Gulfstream Park Thursday on the second racing day
following Sunday’s jackpot hit for $185,237.
A mandatory payout of the pool is scheduled for Sunday. Should the multi-race wager go unsolved
until Sunday, the pool is expected to grow to an estimated $750,000.
comments powered by