Sunny Ridge achieves millionaire status with State Dinner win

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sunny Ridge became racing’s newest millionaire Friday, rolling to a 3 1/4-length victory over 3-5 favorite Timeline in the $100,000 State Dinner Stakes at Belmont Park.

Sunny Ridge had raced too close to the pace in his two most recent races, both losses, a fact jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. knew all too well. Ortiz was aboard Sunny Ridge on April 20, when he finished second to Pioneer Spirit in an allowance race.

“I rode him at Aqueduct and was close to the pace,” Ortiz said. “I don’t think he wants to run like that.”

So, despite Sunny Ridge breaking on top Friday, Ortiz took him off the pace, 2 1/2 lengths behind the pacesetting Timeline. At the five-sixteenths pole, Ortiz sent Sunny Ridge after Timeline, and straightening away into the lane, Sunny Ridge seized command. Ortiz kept Sunny Ridge to task, smacking him eight times in the lane to secure the win.

“Timeline is a nice horse, and he’s a fighter,” Ortiz said. “You get close to him, he’s going to come back at you. When I made my move past him, I tried to clear him.”

Timeline finished second by a half-length over You’re to Blame. Giuseppe the Great and Frammento completed the order of finish.

Sunny Ridge, a 5-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding by Holy Bull owned by Dennis Drazin and trained by Jason Servis, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.71 and returned $6.20 as the second choice.

The victory was his sixth from 18 starts for Sunny Ridge and pushed his career earnings to $1,024,402. It was his fifth stakes victory, and he’s won at least one stakes race in each of his four years of racing.

“Anything can happen, but that horse is good enough to make some serious money in the next three or four years,” Servis said.

Servis said he would look to run Sunny Ridge at Saratoga in either the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney on Aug. 4 or the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward on Sept. 1.

“If he sits back and they go quick early, one of these days, they’re going to come back to him and he’s going to get there and get that big check,” said Servis, who improved to 16 for 33 at the Belmont meet.