Forty-six horses were entered Monday in the four Sunshine Millions(tm) races to be run at Santa Anita. 39 horses were entered to participate in Gulfstream Park’s four races. The program worth $3.6 million is the richest in history for restricted stakes. The Sunshine Millions is the brainchild of Frank Stronach, whose Magna Entertainment Corporation owns both tracks.
The second annual Sunshine Millions races will be run in 15-minute intervals, rotating between Gulfstream and Santa Anita. The Millions culminates with the $1,000,000 Barretts/CTBA at Santa Anita Park at 2:45 p.m. NBC Sports will televise the Sunshine Millions from 4 to 6 p.m ET. Each track will offer a special $1 Pick Four wager on its four Sunshine Millions(tm) races.
Free past performances for all the Sunshine Millions are available online here.
Santa Anita
The Classic drew an overflow field of 12 runners with two horses on the also eligible list. Peace Rules, third in the 2003 Kentucky Derby, is the 9 to 5 morning line favorite with Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey to ride. The 4-year-old Florida-bred races coupled with multiple graded stakes winner Midas Eyes as an Edmund Gann-owned/Bobby Frankel trained entry.
"He's wonderfully talented and an aggressive, speedy type horse," Bailey said of Peace Rules. "He gives you every ounce he's got so you don't have to worry about that aspect of it."
Peace Rules won the Grade I Blue Grass and the Grade I Haskell last year while banking $1,850,000. The Classic will be his first race at Santa Anita since winning the Hill Rise on turf on Dec. 28, 2002.
Another Florida-bred, Southern Image, is the 5-1 second choice on the line. The Halo's Image colt has raced exclusively in California and scored a 13-1 upset in the Grade I Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26. "I'm running here (instead of the $300,000 Strub Stakes on Feb. 7) because $1 million is a factor but the horse is most important," trainer Michael Machowsky said of Southern Image. "If he wasn't doing good I'd wait for the Strub."
Grey Memo and Continental Red, both millionaires, lead the California-breds in the Classic. The stretch-running Grey Memo was third in the 2003 Classic at Gulfstream Park but is winless in 15 starts at Santa Anita. Continental Red also ran in the Classic last year, finishing eighth, and comes off a second in the Grade II San Gabriel Handicap on turf on Dec. 28.
The other Sunshine Millions(tm) races at Santa Anita, in order: <ul> <li>The $250,000 NATC Dash for 3-year-olds at six furlongs, 1:03 p.m. Ice Wynnd Fire, another Florida-bred from the powerful Frankel stable, is the 2-1 morning line favorite in a field of 10.
<li>The $300,000 Nextel Filly/Mare Sprint at six furlongs, 1:33 p.m. Bear Fan, a California-bred 5-year-old mare that has won four of seven career starts, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in a field of 11.
<li>And the $500,000 John Deere Filly/Mare Turf, 2:09 p.m. California-bred Valentine Dancer is the 7-2 morning line choice in an evenly-matched field of 10 that includes Atlantic Ocean, a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly that won last year's Sunshine Millions(tm) Oaks. at Santa Anita. </ul>
Gulfstream
The two richest events to be run at Gulfstream – the $500,000 Franks Farm Turf and the $500,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Distaff – drew full fields of 12, with two horses on the also-eligible list for the Turf.
The $300,000 Padua Stables Sprint will have a field of seven – including the major stakes winners Shake You Down and Valid Video – and six fillies will contest the $250,000 Ocala Stud Oaks. A total of 39 horses were entered in the four Sunshine Millions(tm) races at Gulfstream Park, including an oversubscribed field of 14 in the $500,000 Franks Farm Turf. Defending champion Adminniestrator, a California-bred by Incinderator, will ship East for trainer Nick Canani and owner Michael Gill.
The Florida-bred Proud Man and the California-bred Adminniestrator head a field of 14 entered in the Franks Farm Turf. The race will have 12 starters, with two on the also-eligible list. The mile and an eighth grass events looks wide-open, and several members of the field have already won on the Gulfstream grass.
Adminniestrator won the inaugural Turf last year when it was run at Santa Anita. Stormy Roman, who tired to finish ninth in that race, will be running on his home course this year. On the early wagering line, Gulfstream grass winner Proud Man is the 7-2 favorite, with Florida-bred Miesque’s Approval second choice at 4-1, and Man From Wicklow, a Grade 1 winner on the local turf, at 6-1.
Free past performances for all the Sunshine Millions are available online here.
