Day 31

Sunshine Millions Day

An EXCELLENT Day At Gulfstream

And that's will be the focus of today's journal.  I handicapped several other tracks (Fair Grounds, Tampa, Aqueduct, Parx, and Santa Anita) but of the seven wins on the day FOUR were local and they were the highlights of the day.  Check out the video recap at the bottom to find out about the other wins.  I passed on the opener at Gulfstream, so the first bet of the day came in the second, a Maiden Special for 3-year-olds going two turns at a mile and a sixteenth.  Like several times already at the meet, there were TWO Todd Pletcher colts.  The task would be to pick the right one!  In post two was Old Mountain Lane.  I knew this guy.....when he first showed up here it was in a seven furlong MSW on Opening Weekend.  He was exciting a best of the rest second out of a race that had already produced multiple winners.  He went off as the favorite and was in front close to the line when the "other" Pletcher colt, Itsaknockout came flying by to nip him on the wire.  Well, Itsaknockout stretched out in his next start and was sensational.  So today looked to be Old Mountain Lane's day.  The other Pletcher colt was named JS Bach and he too had been second in his latest.  But that had been at 5 1/2 furlongs.  His Beyer that day, a huge 92, was the best in the field, but could he do that again, and going around two turns?  That was a lot to ask I thought, so I tabbed Old Mountain Lane.  Then on Friday morning on the talk radio show I listen to they had HRTV's Caton Bradar on to preview the Millions Day program.  She talked about some of the big races and at the end of the segment she made the comment, "....watch out for JS Bach on the undercard, he looks very talented...." Hmmmm.  I considered switching my picks.  Then I saw the Gulfstream preview video with on-track analyst Christina Bossanakis - her closing comment was, ".....I'm really looking forward to seeing JS Bach run tomorrow....."  And finally, when I downloaded the DRF Analysis of the card, Mike Welsch not only liked JS Bach as well, he made JS Bach his "BEST BET!"  So now we have three professionals who are around the track, the horses, and the stables everyday and they ALL like the horse that I was torn between putting first or second.  I switched the order, re-worded my analysis sheet and tripled the bet on him!  He broke alertly and went right to the front.  The fractions were honest and he had company pushing him just enough so he wasn't on an easy lead.  As they hit the far turn the others began their run in earnest, but jockey John Velazquez shook the reigns and he rebroke to burst home winning with authority as he distanced himself from the field with each and every stride. 

The crowd had sent him off at 4/5 (ironically the second place horse was Old Mountain Lane!) and so I cashed for nearly $30!  He looked so good that on my video I remarked I MIGHT have just found my Florida Derby horse!  In the third I liked Libby'sluckycharm who was 5-for-5 in the exacta at the distance and had won for races.  Rallied late behind a loose-on-the-lead frontrunner to be a distant third.  In the fourth I went with a 30/1 shot, Biedermeir was a turf runner for Team Pletcher and I wasn't about to let a longshot from that barn beat me....distant sixth as my third choice won the race.  In the fifth it was the start of the Sunshine Millions program and it was the sprint.  At first I was against Happy My Way who'd be the favorite and was on the rail.  But the more I looked at it he was clearly the class of the field, hd posted six straight triple digit Beyer figures with FOUR of them HERE.  Even Joe Bravo who is off to a 3-for-30 start to the meet only had to get out in front and it was all over.  Right to the front he broke and he was on an easy lead.....I'm home free I thought.  As the field turned for home and I anticipated his burst to the wire - nothing.  The winner was ridden by Javier Castellano - the top rider - and had been picked by Bossinakis!  Paid over $11.  Sigh....... My friend Jim Anderson arrived with two family members and we sat together in the grandstand as they went to post for the sixth, the Sunshine Millions Turf.  This race was at 1 1/16th mile and it looked to have a lot of speed in the race, so I looked for a closer.  I settled on Manchurian High.  He was exiting two marathon events -at 1 1/2 miles, so the cutback was a concern.  But two back he'd won the $100K Laurel Cup, and in his last, the Grade 3 William L. McKnight he was five wide while trying to close into the pedestrian splits of :51 for a half and a pokey 1:17 for 3/4 of a mile.  Still he was a close third.  That was his first start off a layoff AND the figure he earned in the McKnight was nearly identical to that of the Laurel race - which meant there was a good chance he'd move forward today.  And with the anticipated hot pace I thought that was a real possibility.  He also was NOT going to be the favorite.  He was near the back as pace was indeed hot, then as they were on the far turn he started picking off horses one by one.  With about a furlong to go he swept by and drew off impressively!  WHOOOOO HOOOOOO! 

He paid a generous $8.20 and I was cashing for over $40.  I told Jim he was my good luck charm!  In the 7th there was an allowance race to split the five stakes races.  This too was on the turf and also at the 8 1/2 furlong distance.  Pleuven was my choice.  He'd won last two starts in Europe before coming over here last year to run third in the Grade 3 Dania Beach and then fourth (beaten 1 1/2 lengths) in the Grade 3 Palm Beach for Chad Brown.  He'd been away from the races since that March run, but Brown was a good 30% with long layoff types, he had Javier Castellano on board, AND he'd put Pleuven through a series of solid works for today.  Castellano had him on the rail all the way through the far turn saving ground, but as they turned for home he switched outside an Pleuven gave him a sudden acceleration and he shot to the front in the final 1/16th of a mile!  Best of all, the odds were a sharp 9/2! 

The payoff on the board of $11.60 meant I was cashing for nearly $60!  The eighth was the third of the five Sunshine Million Stakes, the Distaff.  Todd Pletcher's Dame Dorothy was my top choice and she was a Grade 3 winner.  But she was stuck on the outside in post eleven.  I was a little hesitant when I read Pletcher's comments that this was NOT the original planned comeback spot, but when Gulfstream opened the Millions stakes races up to NY and Maryland-breds it looked like too good of a spot to pass up....even though it was at seven furlongs and she's probably better (Pletcher said) going two turns.  She was wide from the start, but in perfect position to strike as they hit the far turn.  She began to move and as they spun out of the turn headed for the finish line she'd swept in front by nearly two lengths.  Coasted home and I had my FOURTH winner at Gulfstream and my second SSM race! 

The toteboard flashed $6.00 and that was more than fair to me, I cashed for $30.  I was a good second in the SSM Filly & Mare Turf with Waterway Run and then had a troubled start in the SSM Classic - fourth.  I also missed in the finale.  But for the day at Gulfstream I'd hit on four of ten, and cashed out to the tune of  $156 for the $115 I'd wagered!  I won for the day at Tampa, but what really cost me on the bottom line was that at the Fair Grounds where it was "Road To The Derby Day" I missed on all five stakes races with only two of them even hitting the board - and that included a 3/5 favorite and a 4/5 favorite.  At Aqueduct the "other" horse won the feature as I listed the winner second, after she'd NOT won for me last time.....sigh.  I did win once in NY with a 1/2 favorite.  And at Santa Anita I had what looked like two obvious winners, and they looked like it at the top of the stretch (at 3/5 and 4/5), but both collapsed late.  So, for the day I had seven wins from thirty selections.  Gulfstream Park was also playing host to the Eclipse Awards Saturday night after the races.  The next day when the winners were announced I noted that of the ten awards given to thoroughbred champions, SEVEN  awards went to horses that I'd won with:  Horse-of-the-Year and 3yo of the Year went to California Chrome who I'd won with in the Preakness.  Untapable was the three-year-old filly of the year - I'd cashed on her in the Fair Ground Oaks, the Kentucky Oaks, the Mother Goose, the Cotillion, and the Breeders' Cup Distaff.  Ironically her lone loss of the year came when I went to see her LIVE when taking on the boys in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.  Close Hatches was a winner for me in the Personal Ensign - she was older Filly & Mare champion; and the winner of the Older Male & Turf Horse of the Year went to Main Sequence who I'd had in the Joe Hirsch on Breeders' Cup Preview Day at Belmont.  Congrats to those top notch runners and to the three big winners in the human categories who provided me with so many wins:  Top Trainer Todd Pletcher; top jockey Javier Castellano; and top breeders Ken & Sarah Ramsey! 

Check out the highlight video for the entire day here: