Starship Jubilee going for Sunshine Millions over Pegasus

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although she was among the original invitees to the Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 25, Starship Jubilee will run instead this weekend as the biggest name Saturday among the four Sunshine Millions races at Gulfstream.

Trainer Kevin Attard said Starship Jubilee will start in the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf when making her first start since finishing second as the 1-2 favorite in the Grade 3 Cardinal at Churchill in November. This will be the 33rd “but not necessarily the last” start, said Attard, for Starship Jubilee, an earner of more than $1.17 million for Blue Heaven Farm.

The other Sunshine Millions events are the $200,000 Classic, the $150,000 Turf, and the $100,000 Sprint. Entries were to be drawn Wednesday.

Pair of Thursday allowances

A 10-race card featuring two allowances with short lineups of female runners are among the offerings here Thursday, when first post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Race 3, for older fillies going 1 1/16 miles, figures to have Cuddle Kitten as the one to beat in a field of just five. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call for trainer Jorge Navarro.

In Race 9, for 3-year-old fillies at a one-turn mile, the other riding Ortiz brother, Jose, has a choice mount in Global Ambition, whose runner-up finish in a Laurel Park allowance is likely to help make her favored in a field of six.

The second allowance is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which spans races 5-10. The Rainbow jackpot stood at $2,371,995 entering Wednesday action.