Maryland State Record Jackpot Carryover Reaches $670,306
Jockey J.D. Acosta Registers Natural Hat Trick Saturday

BALTIMORE – Sunday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 at Pimlico Race Course will feature full fields and competitive races for bettors as they attempt to take down a Maryland state-record jackpot carryover of $670,306.25 after it went unsolved during Saturday’s program.

First race post time Sunday is 12:40 p.m.

Two horses were live to take down the jackpot heading into Saturday’s ninth-race finale, won by Crystalology ($20.60). A total of $138,902 was bet into the popular multi-race wager, which began with a carryover of $625,866.27 from Friday. Multiple tickets with all six winners each returned $16,664.98.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico’s spring meet, the Rainbow 6 had its previous state record carryover reach $345,898.33 spanning 31 racing programs before being solved by one lucky bettor for a life-changing $399,545.94 payout April 15, 2018 at Laurel Park. The winning ticket was purchased through Maine off-track betting.

“It’s a very challenging sequence with some extremely competitive races,” MJC racing analyst Naomi Tukker said. “If possible, try and find yourself a single because it will dramatically keep the cost of your ticket down. Go deep in the races where you’re not as confident, spread out and hope for a price. It’s a very low cost of investment. A 20-cent minimum means anyone can get involved.”

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence begins in Race 4 (2:08 p.m.), a six-furlong claiming event for fillies and mares 3 and up which have never won two races. The 7-5 program favorite in the field of seven is Super C Racing Inc.’s 3-year-old filly Why Roxie Why, an eight-length debut winner in a six-furlong maiden claiming sprint March 5 at Laurel Park for Maryland’s four-time defending champion trainer Claudio Gonzalez.

Race 5 (2:39 p.m.) is an optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass that attracted 16 horses including the Jamie Ness-trained entry of Sir Back in Black and You Must Chill as well as main-track-only entrant My Good Man. Kevin P. Morgan’s 5-year-old gelding Mr. d’Angelo is favored on the morning line at 5-2, making his first start since finishing fourth last October in defense of his 17-1 upset victory in the 2019 Maryland Million Turf. The late runner has gone winless in four starts since, coming up short twice by less than a length under similar conditions.

Eleven maidens age 3, 4 and 5 will sprint six furlongs over the main track looking to graduate in Race 6 (3:11 p.m.). Pinochle Partners’ Pederson’s Courage, a sophomore son of Bourbon Courage trained by Brittany Russell, has been working steadily at Pimlico since early March for his debut and will break from far outside Post 11. On the inside from Post 2 is Holly Hill Stable’s Elusive Edge, unraced since last July at Gulfstream Park and going out first time for trainer Miguel Vera, who connects in that instance at a 38 percent clip.

The first of back-to-back optional claiming allowances comes in Race 7 (3:43 p.m.), when eight fillies and mares 3 and up will go 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Trainer Graham Motion will send out Larkin Armstrong and Jack Swain III’s Cat’s Pajamas, last seen finishing last of 10 following a troubled trip in the one-mile Lake George (G3) last August at Saratoga. Last summer the 4-year-old Street Sense filly won a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Belmont Park and was fifth by three lengths as the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Lake Placid (G2) at Saratoga. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey counters with Stuart Janney III homebred In a Hurry, a 2019 maiden winner at Laurel Park who will have the services of jockey Forest Boyce. McGaughey and Boyce have clicked at 30 percent over the past two years.

Race 8 (4:15 p.m.) is a third-level condition for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on the main track that lured Gil Campbell’s Stonehedge homebred Always Sunshine, a 9-year-old gelding making his 34th career start. Reunited with jockey Carol Cedeno, he has two of three starts this year after going unraced for 541 days. Breaking from Post 1, Always Sunshine owns 12 wins and more than $700,000 in purse earnings, among his victories the 2016 Maryland Sprint Handicap (G3) at Pimlico.

Among the competition are Noble Commander, a two-time stakes winner in 2018 for previous his previous trainer, Hall of Famer Mark Casse, that ran third in that year’s Federico Tesio at Laurel; Colts Neck Stables’ homebred Absentee, third by less than a length in the Fall Highweight (G3) at Aqueduct two starts back who opened 2021 running fifth in the Frank Y. Whiteley April 24 at Pimlico; Nottoway, a winner of two of his last three starts for trainer and co-owner Lacey Gaudet; Gonzalez-trained Eastern Bay, winner of the Polynesian at Laurel and second by a nose to Laki in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) in successive starts last fall; Whiskey and You, riding a two-race win streak; and Tappin Cat, third in the 2019 Maryland Million Classic.

The Rainbow 6 wraps up in Race 9 (4:46 p.m.), a six-furlong starter optional claimer for fillies and mares 3 and up. Favored at 3-5 in the program is Rising Sun Racing Stables Inc.’s Conjecture, a 10-time winner from 48 lifetime starts, three of those wins coming in six tries since being claimed for $16,000 by Gonzalez in October 2020. The 7-year-old Great Notion mare won back-to-back races to open the year and was a troubled third last out March 29 at Parx, beaten a half-length, but placed second following the disqualification of first-place finisher Squan’s Kingdom.

There will also be carryovers of $27,689.35 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5 (Races 5-9) and $1,085.72 in the $1 Super Hi-5 (Race 1). Tickets with four of five winners in Saturday’s Late Pick 5 were each worth $163.

Notes: Jockey J.D. Acosta registered a natural hat trick Saturday aboard Awesome Buzz ($45.60) in Race 3, Glory March ($4.80) in Race 4 and Princess Adira ($6.40) in Race 5 following the disqualification of first-place finisher B Determined for interference … Jockey Sheldon Russell doubled with Marvella Nasty ($21.60) in Race 6 and Malibu Beauty ($5) in Race 8.