Arcadia, CA (Sportsbooks) - Go Between, ridden by Garrett Gomez, made a sweeping move coming off the final turn to capture Saturday's sixth annual Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita Park. The Sunshine Millions is a competition between Florida and California-bred horses with races also held at Gulfstream Park.
The track at Santa Anita was lightning fast after the top two inches of the synthetic surface was removed. Racing was cancelled on Thursday and Friday when the track did not drain properly from heavy rain and hail.
Setting the pace in the $1 million Classic was Bilo with Gottcha Gold pressing the pace along the rail and defending champ Mojave's McCann on the outside in third. Also stalking the pace was Now Victory and Buzzards Bay.
Around the turn for home Go Between advanced on the outside as the leaders began to tire. The five-year-old opened up down the middle of the track holding off the late running Celtic Dreamin.
Go Between posted a 1 1/2 length win over Celtic Dreamin with Seminole Native finishing third and 2-1 favorite Diamond Stripes fourth.
The time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:45.64.
Rounding out the order of finish was Buzzards Bay, Bilo, Bold Chieftain, Electrify, Gottcha Gold, McCann's Mojave, Now Victory and Going Ballistic.
Making a rare start on the main track, Go Between posted his second straight win on an artificial surface. He took the Fayette Stakes at Keeneland in October and has now won seven of 22 career starts. The $600,000 from the Classic brings Go Between's earnings to better than $1.8 million.
Go Between, owned by Peter Vegso and trained by Bill Mott, was third in last year's Sunshine Millions Turf here.
Go Between returned $12.00, $6.60 and $4.60. Celtic Dreamin paid $9.80 and $6.20, and Seminole Native paid $10.20 to show.
In the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream Park Eclipse Award winner Ginger Punch posted a victory to begin her 2008 season. Sent off as the 3-10 favorite, the 2007 champion older female and jockey Rafael Bejarano ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.14. Finishing second 6 3/4 lengths back was Peach Flambe with Memorette third.
Ginger Punch adds $150,000 to her bankroll, which now stands at more than $2 million. Owned by Frank Stronach and trained by Bobby Frankel, the five-year- old has won eight of 15 lifetime starts.
Winning the three other Sunshine Millions races at Gulfstream Park were Benny the Bull in the Sprint and American County in the Oaks for three-year-old fillies, both ridden by Edgar Prado, and War Monger captured the Turf.
A new world record for six-furlongs was set in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash at Santa Anita. Three-year-old Bob Black Jack covered the distance in 1:06.53 with jockey David Flores. The record is for non-grass surfaces. He paid $3.60 for the win.
Dearest Trickster won the Sunshine Million Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita. Her time for six-furlongs was only 1:07.66. The Filly and Mare Turf went to Quite a Bride who was ridden by Gomez.
