In contrast with its Florida counterpart, the Santa Anita division of the 2006 Sunshine Millions attracted an on-track crowd of 32,116. $3.6 million was up for grabs between the eight races of the 4th annual battle between horses bred in California and Florida, with the main event of the day carded at Santa Anita.
Lava Man sat comfortably behind a torrid early pace battle, then took the lead in upper stretch under jockey Corey Nakatani and finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of Whos Crying Now in the 1 1/8 mile Sunshine Millions Classic. He ran the distance in 1:49.98 after biding his time behind sizzling fractions of 21.88, 44.84 and 1:08.69 set by dueling leaders Proud Tower Too and Trickey Trevor.
Winning jockey Corey Nakatani said, "Our game plan was to come out running, make them commit, and that's what happened. It almost turned out like we drew it up. We wanted to make them run, make them commit to go by you, get to the outside and then put in a very nice run and that's exactly what happened." Trainer Doug O'Neill said Lava Man would make his next start in the March 4 Santa Anita Handicap.
Moscow Burning finally gained revenge in the 1 1/8 mile Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf. She swooped to the lead while rallying wide around the far turn to defeat Beneficial Bartok by 1 1/2 lengths with Charmsil a head back in third. The final time was 1:48.39. The California-bred daughter of Moscow Ballet was well fancied by the public. As the 7-5 favorite, she paid $4.60, $3.20 and $2.60. Beneficial Bartok returned $4.80 and $3.40 while Charmsil's show price was $5.20.
Winning jockey David Flores said, "The pace was slow and I just wanted to be in position. I made my run around the 3/8 pole just in case these guys had something left, because they were fresh and they were going slow. There was no pace the first half so I knew I had to get there earlier and she had just enough to get there. She was really ready and very good today." Trainer James Cassidy added, "To be honest with you, I wasn't sure she was going to get up. This is fantastic to have a mare like this. If she never ran again, this would be perfect."
Trainer Bob Baffert's Da Stoops ran off with the $250,000 Dash for 3-year-olds. Ridden by Victor Espinoza, the California-bred son of Distorted Humor took command early and cruised to a 7 1/2-length win over Floridian Changing Weather while running six furlongs in 1:08.94. Favored Da Stoops paid $4.60, $3.40 and $2.60. Changing Waters, who finished one-half length ahead of Brite Maneuvers, paid $86.60 and $5.60. The show price on Brite Maneuvers was $4.60. Plagiarist, the 2-1 second choice in a field of eight, ran last while failing to display the promise shown in his swift winning debut at Hollywood Park last month.
Winning trainer Bob Baffert said, "He really trained well into this race. He did stumble a bit out of the gate, but he's so athletic he recovered. About the 5/8's pole I knew we were in good shape. This colt's got some serious gears. He's really fast. He's the quickest Cal bred I've ever trained." Jockey Victor Espinoza added, "I got lucky. I wanted him to break as sharp as he could but he kind of bobbled coming out of the gate, just a little bit, one or two jumps, he kind of lost his balance. After that it was no problem."
Favorite Western Hemisphere couldn't catch victorious Florida-bred Hot Storm in the $300,000 Filly and Mare Sprint as the 4-year-old filly covered six furlongs in 1:09.44 and became only the second horse ever to capture a second Sunshine Millions event. Hot Storm won last year's Oaks at Santa Anita in her only other start at the track. With David Flores in the saddle, Hot Storm gained the lead on the backstretch and was never seriously menaced by the closing bid of Western Hemisphere. The winning margin was 1 3/4 lengths. Thrilling Victory ran third, 2 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up.
Cathy Riccio, assistant to winning trainer Dallas Stewart, said, "She ran awesome, She's a classy old mare and she just does everything you want her to do. She's a very nice filly. She'll go back to the main division at Gulfstream." Jockey David Flores added, "She broke well and I was expecting a lot more speed from the outside, but when my filly took the lead, she started looking around and nobody else was sending, so I was very comfortable. I was very pleased the first half-mile. On the middle of the turn I hit her just a little bit on the shoulder and she went right back on. I was very pleased. She's a very nice filly."
