Manchurian High jumps at chance to win third Sunshine Millions Turf

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s hard not to root for Manchurian High in Saturday’s $150,000 Sunshine Millions Turf.

Not only is the 10-year-old Manchurian High the oldest horse in the field, he’s also a two-time winner of the event and seeks his third win in a unique manner – off a five-length maiden victory over the hurdles in Charleston, S.C., two months earlier.

Manchurian High is owned and trained by Lilli Kurtinecz, who purchased the son of The Daddy privately at the end of his 2013 campaign. He’s since become like a member of the family for Kurtinecz, who brightens up and exudes affection for Manchurian High at the mere mention of his name.

“We just try to keep him happy and fit,” said Kurtinecz, who became a year-round resident at Palm Meadows for the first time this past season and has a dozen horses bedded down at the training facility. “He really didn’t like it here this summer. He hates the racetrack. He’s a farm horse. He likes to gallop up and down the hills and play out in the fields. That’s why I sent him home to some friends in Maryland and ran him over the hurdles. He’s such an athletic horse, it’s easy for him. And he was doing so well after he won his last start, I said why not take a shot and try to win this race for a third time.”

Manchurian High rallied from last to capture the 2015 Sunshine Millions Turf by 3 1/4 lengths. He returned a year later and followed a similar script, finishing full of run down the stretch to register a half-length decision over Reporting Star. He has made only eight starts since he won the Sunshine Millions Turf in January 2016, going winless in five tries on the flat with a win, a second, and a third in three starts over jumps during that period.

“We missed a chance to try for a third Sunshine Millions last year because I got hurt,” Kurtinecz said. “And I’m the only one who ever rides him here. He came back to me a week ago and is training awesome. He’s certainly fit enough, having won his last race at 2 1/4 miles under 154 pounds. Perhaps he has lost a step or two now – I don’t really know. We’ll see. But he owes me nothing, and either way he’ll go back north after this race, get kicked out on the farm for a while, and run over the hurdles again during the spring. And when his racing career is over, there’s a long list of people who want him for the horse shows, which he loves, too. He can really do it all. He’s just a cool dude.”

◗ Curlin’s Approval turned in her final serious prep for a defense of her title in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie a week from Saturday, going an easy half-mile in company in 48.31 seconds here Wednesday with jockey Luis Saez aboard. Curlin’s Approval is coming off a second-place finish behind Lewis Bay going a mile in the Grade 3 Rampart on Dec. 16, her first start since finishing 13th in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.