Winners of Noel’s Weekend: Tropical Park Oaks and Derby Plays at Gulfstream

Six gambling tools for beginners

1. Start simple with a simple guide to horse racing betting.
2. Not sure what that word means? Horse racing terminology is a language in itself. Let us translate for you
3. What the heck is a speed rating? This beginner’s guide to speed figures has everything you need to know.
4. Betting on horse racing can be intimidating. Team ABR has put together a number of Do’s and Don’ts for the new fan who is starting to bet on racing.
5. We all make mistakes when it comes to horse racing betting, here are eight lessons learned from experience.
6. Find out in advance how much each bet will cost with our betting calculator, presented by NYRA Bets.

There are only a few weeks left of 2025 and the year has flown by. The Gulfstream Park Championship Meet is already in full swing and the quality of racing and betting at the meet is starting to reach its peak. Gulfstream will host a highly wagerable 11-race program this Saturday, highlighted by a pair of stakes races for 3-year-olds on grass – the Tropical Park Oaks and the Tropical Park Derby. For this weekend’s winners, let’s focus on these two tough, wide-open races. If we can determine the winners, we will be well on our way to a profitable day at Gulfstream Park. Good luck.

Saturday December 13th

Gulfstream Park, Race 8, $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks, post time 3:47 PM ET

A full field of 3-year-old fillies will travel 1 1/16 miles on the grass field at the Tropical Park Oaks for a purse of $125,000. It’s not a graduated stakes race, but it is a graduated stakes field and a great betting race. The horse to beat is #3 And again for trainer Mark Casse, who returned from a year’s layoff last time out to win a mile-grass race at Woodbine in her three-year-old debut. She was the winner of Woodbine’s Grade 1 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes as a 2-year-old and it was good to see her put up a solid speed figure in her return win. She should improve further on Saturday in her second outing after the long break. #4 Golden destination is another contender in this area with a high stake level that should be included in your betting. She was the winner of this summer’s Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes at Ellis Park for trainer Brad Cox, and her two losses since then both came in extremely tough spots in the $2 million Blackwood Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes and in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes presented by Dixiana. Destino d’Oro is a versatile filly who can push the pace or close from far back, and Cox appears to have found an ideal spot to turn her form into a positive turn. #5 Mischief in motion has performed well in similar places to this in her last two races and is another serious contender in this race. She won the $151,000 Christiana Stakes from Delaware Park in wire-to-wire fashion two races ago and finished by two seconds last time in the $75,000 Cellars Shiraz Stakes on this course and distance after running too close to a blazing pace. If hotrider Emisael Jaramillo (9 wins in 34 mounts, 26% at the line) can slow down a notch today, she could have enough gas in the tank to threaten to go all the way.

The play: Bet #3 And again (5-1) to win and play her in exacta and trifecta boxes #4 Golden ticket (3-1)And #5 Disaster in motion (10-1).

Gulfstream Park, Race 11, $125,000 Tropical Park Derby, post time 5:17 PM ET

Another full field of stakes horses has been assembled for the nightcap on the 11-race card, with the Tropical Park Derby going 1 1/16 miles over the grass. Go home a winner with a bet on #7 Chapman’s Peakwho has been in great form in three straight races with a maiden win at Kentucky Downs, a compensation win at Keeneland and a near-miss at second place in a very tough edition of Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes in quick succession in his last three races. He is still improving in every race and will be extremely difficult to beat. Three horses in this field exit the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes at Aqueduct, including the winner #3 Tiz boisterouswho put it all together for his best race of his career after running competitively at a pair of high-stakes spots at Saratoga this summer. He is another three-year-old who is still improving and has a good chance to end the year with a win. Finally we did that #12 Power dinner And #6 Layabout who finished 1-2 in the $75,000 Showing Up Stakes at Gulfstream Park last month, where Souper Forces prevailed by half a length. Actually, however, it could have been Layabout, who ran the better race of the two after being too close to the fast pace from post position 11. Layabout’s draw is better in this race, as this time it is Souper Forces who pulled the far outside post. Layabout is a former stakes winner on this grass track and he brings in Junior Alvarado for the mount.

The play: Bet #7 Chapman’s Peak (5-2) to win and play him in exacta and trifecta boxes #3 Tiz Boisterous (7-2)And #6 Layabout (10-1).