Dalmore enters Sunshine Millions Classic in top form
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Sunshine Millions will live up to its name Saturday at Gulfstream Park – halfway, anyway. The seven-figure purses once part and parcel of the innovative series are no longer, but there will be sunshine, with the weather folks calling for mostly clear skies and a high of 78.
Of greater significance is that the Sunshine Millions is still in existence, with four stakes restricted to Florida-breds interspersed throughout a 12-race card that starts at 11:45 a.m. Eastern. The richest of the quartet is the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic, a 1 1/8-mile race that figures to have Dalmore, Mr. Jordan, Forevamo, and Souper Tapit as favorites in a well-matched field of eight.
Dalmore might be perceived as the class of the field after having faced the likes of California Chrome, Hoppertunity, and Diversify. He makes his first start since leading to midstretch and finishing second in the Richard W. Small at Laurel in November.
Co-owner Ron Paolucci expects the well-traveled 6-year-old to make his presence known after breaking from post 1 with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard.
“If he runs the way he’s training, they’re all running for second money,” said Paolucci.
Mr. Jordan (post 4, Jose Ortiz) is becoming a fixture in the Classic, having already run second in the 2016 and 2018 renewals. With a $827,355 bankroll, the gray 7-year-old is easily the leading earner in this 2019 renewal. One hangup: He has just one win from 17 starts at Gulfstream, along with six seconds, two thirds, and two fourths – but trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. is hoping Mr. Jordan can repeat what he accomplished here last May in winning over the local surface.
“Before this year, they said we weren’t successful at Gulfstream, and we have been now,” Plesa said.
In his last start, Mr. Jordan won the Millions Classic Preview at Gulfstream Park West in November.
Forevamo will be looking to create the first winning streak of his 23-race career when he breaks from post 2 under Javier Castellano. The 6-year-old gelding will be facing statebreds for the first time. He snapped a 13-race losing streak when he captured the $150,000 Zia Championship in November for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Souper Tapit (post 8, John Velazquez) won an off-the-turf allowance for trainer Mark Casse last out.
The 2018 Classic winner, Jay’s Way, also is part of the lineup, but the Midwest Thoroughbreds standout appears off form, having been soundly defeated in four starts since then. The rest of the Classic field is Transistor, Weisser, and Noble Drama.
The Classic is carded as race 11 (post, 4:47 p.m.) and is the last of the Sunshine Millions events. The earlier stakes are the $100,000 Sprint (race 4), the $150,000 Turf (race 6), and the $150,000 Filly and Mare Turf (race 10). X Y Jet, pointing for another trip to Dubai, surely will be the heaviest favorite in the series and is likely to be odds-on in the Sprint.
The Sunshine Millions, first run in 2002 as a cross-country venture that included California-breds and Santa Anita, will be the last stakes run here prior to the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night and a blockbuster card next Saturday highlighted by the two Pegasus World Cup events.
