Noble Drama and Red Crescent go at it again in Sunshine Classic

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A rivalry that first began in the 2020 Sunshine Millions Classic will be renewed for the sixth time since then when Noble Drama and Red Crescent top a field of seven Florida-bred 4-year-olds and up set to go 1 1/8 miles in Saturday’s Sunshine Classic at Gulfstream Park.

The Classic highlights what remains of the once well-endowed and extremely popular Sunshine Millions program, with the purse of the race down to just $75,000 after having been valued at $200,000 a year ago. If the winner of the Classic is eligible to the Florida Sire Stakes, he will receive a $25,000 bonus. The Classic (race 9) is the second of four statebred stakes on a 12-race card that begins at 11:45 a.m.

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Noble Drama rallied from last and outgamed the favored Red Crescent to register a head decision in last year’s Classic. That victory kicked off a campaign during which the versatile Noble Drama also won the seven-furlong Benny the Bull and one-mile Wildcat Heir stakes while banking $337,000 for his owner-breeder Harold Queen. The son of Gone Astray came out on top in five of his six head-to-head meetings with Red Crescent in 2020, finishing behind that rival only in a seven-furlong overnight stakes here in June.

Trained by David Fawkes, Noble Drama exits a pair of losses as the 6-5 favorite, finishing second behind the 27-1 Quenane in the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview and most recently third in a Florida Sire Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Noble Drama was nearly 10 lengths back in the race at Tampa, and was beaten 2 3/4 lengths.

“I don’t really have an excuse for the race at Tampa Bay Downs,” Fawkes said. “I don’t know why he lost contact with the field like that. He just left himself with too much to do. But he always tries hard. He’s just all racehorse. He’s a great blue-collar horse.”

Noble Drama will reunite with his favorite rider Emisael Jaramillo in the Classic. The two have finished first or second in their last five starts together, including the victory in the 2020 Classic.

Red Crescent tailed off some following his game effort behind Noble Drama in last year’s Classic, dropping his next five starts before getting back on the winning track against open company going a mile under allowance conditions here on Dec. 3. Red Crescent conceded Noble Drama four pounds in last year’s renewal of this event, but the pair will share top weight of 122 pounds on Saturday.

Distance could be an issue in the Classic, with Noble Drama and Red Crescent the only two members of the field to have been 1 1/8 miles.

Quenane upset Noble Drama and Red Crescent when he surprisingly shook loose on the lead to capture the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview at a mile over a sloppy track at Gulfstream Park West. He came back to Earth three weeks later, finishing eighth in the Claiming Crown Iron Horse here. Quenane also carries 122 pounds in the Sunshine Classic

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Last Judgment never ran farther than seven furlongs in his seven dirt starts last year, although he did win an allowance race going 1 1/16 miles early in his career at Oaklawn Park. Claimed for $62,500 out of a win during the fall at Belmont Park, Last Judgment exits a troubled eighth-place finish in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector.

Completing the field are Scar, coming off a game statebred allowance win in his 2020 finale; the improving but inexperienced Roman Empire; and Kaufy Bean.

Sunshine Turf

Fawkes will send out one of the key contenders in the $75,000 Sunshine Turf in Galleon Mast, who won the event in 2018 and finished third, beaten two lengths, last season. He’ll face a strong lineup that includes Venezuelan Hug and Second Mate, the first and second finishers in the Millions Turf Preview at Gulfstream West; the multiple stakes winner Monforte; and Proven Strategies, who runs in a statebred stakes for the first time.

Proven Strategies, 4, enters the Sunshine Turf off an allowance win at Saratoga in September and in the Toronto Cup at Woodbine in October. Proven Strategies was in front almost the whole way in both races.

“It’s not an easy race and there is some other speed in there, which is a concern, but he’s training really well, had a really good 3-year-old campaign, and I think he has a shot to become an even better horse this year,” said Mark Casse, who trains Proven Strategies for Leonard and Jonathan Green and the Empire Racing Club.

Sunshine Sprint

Casse is also bullish on his chances with Souper Stonehenge in the $75,000 Sunshine Sprint. Souper Stonehedge, runner-up behind his stablemate and recent Tropical Turf winner Ride a Comet in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road on the Tapeta at Woodbine in his 2020 finale, is one of nine 4-year-olds and up entered in the six-furlong Sprint. The field also includes defending champion Extravagant Kid, Sprint Preview winner Legal Deal, and the multiple stakes winner Jackson.

Casse said of Souper Stonehenge, “He’s been hit or miss, but he is coming off a big race behind Ride a Comet, had a really good breeze the other day, and he likes the dirt.”

◗ The $75,000 Sunshine Filly and Mare Turf is the first of the four stakes on the card, and drew a field of eight, plus one main-track-only entrant. The top contenders in the 1 1/16-mile race are Claiming Crown Tiara runner-up Sugar Fix; the graded stakes-placed Kelsey’s Cross; and recent open allowance winners Sun Summers and Bienville Street.