Top horses converge on Gulfstream Park for Pegasus World Cup,
Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Tapit captured Saturday’s $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic as the 3-2 favorite, taking advantage of a Hall of Fame trip under John Velazquez to prevail with a half-length decision.
The 1 1⁄8- mile Classic capped the Sunshine Millions stakes action for horses bred in Florida, following the $100,000 Sprint, the $150,000 Turf and the $150,000 Filly and Mare Turf.
Nick Tomlinson, assistant to trainer Mark Casse, was duly impressed with Velazquez’s heads-up ride.
“Johnny’s great. He’s the best in the business. I was messing with Johnny in the paddock and said, ‘Mark gave me a bunch of instructions for you.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Let me guess. Nothing?’ I said, ‘Exactly,’ ” Tomlinson said.
Velazquez needed no instructions, instead relying on his years of experience and immense talent to craft a savvy ride aboard the 5-year-old son of Tapit.
The Hall of Fame jockey settled Souper Tapit behind the pace set by defending champion Jay’s Way, stalked by Dalmore on the inside and Weisser on the outside, through fractions of 24.17 seconds and 47.68 for the first half mile. Jay’s Way continued to show the way into the far turn and around the final turn under Luis Saez, as Velazquez made a decisive outside move toward the lead, allowing Souper Tapit to get the jump on Dalmore, who was forced to wait for running room under Irad Ortiz Jr. at the top of the stretch.
In other Sunshine Mil- lions races:
Steve Landers’ well
A traveled multiple stakes winner Big Changes made his South Florida debut a winning one, sitting off the early leaders before pouncing at the top of the stretch and powering to a 1 1⁄2- length victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Sunshine Millions Turf at Gulfstream Park. It was the fifth career stakes victory for Big Changes ($3.60), the 4-5 favorite in a field of six ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.
In the $150,000 Sun
A shine Millions Filly and Mare Turf, heavy favorite Starship Jubilee drove away from her competition down the stretch to win by 4 1⁄
2 lengths over Bitacora.
In the $100,000 Sun
A shine Millions Sprint, Midwest Thoroughbreds’ Quijote benefited from a speed duel between favored X Y Jet and second-choice Ray’swarrior, rallying from off the pace to win by 3 3⁄
4 lengths.