A five-day break in racing at Santa Anita certainly didn't bother Garrett Gomez.
Fresh off his first Eclipse Award win as the country's top jockey in 2007, Gomez continued his momentum Saturday, winning the two biggest local prizes in the eight-race Sunshine Millions series divided between Santa Anita and Florida's Gulfstream Park.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 75 words Type of Material: Correction
Horse racing: An article on the Sunshine Millions in Sunday's Sports section incorrectly spelled the last name of administrative law judge David Rosenman as Roseman. In addition, the article reported that Bob Black Jack, winner of the $250,000 Dash, is owned by Tim Kasparoff. The horse is owned by Kasparoff and Jeff Harmon. The article also spelled Robs Coin, a horse who had tested above the threshold level for a local anesthetic, as Rob's Coin.
Gomez, the leading rider at Santa Anita, which resumed racing after two days had to be canceled because of the condition of the much-troubled Cushion Track surface, won the $500,000 Filly And Mare Turf and the $1-million Classic for trainer Bill Mott.
Taking advantage of a perfect trip sitting close to a slow pace, Gomez and second choice Quite A Bride upset Nashoba's Key in the Filly And Mare Turf. Then he rallied wide with 5-1 choice Go Between to take the Classic.
Given a seal of approval by jockeys who galloped horses over the surface about 9:30 a.m., the main track, which had a lot of overnight work done to it by track superintendent Richard Tedesco and his crew, continued to play exceedingly fast.
In fact, Bob Black Jack, a 3-year-old California-bred son of Stormy Jack, set a North American record for six furlongs in winning the $250,000 Dash. Ridden by David Flores, the 4-5 favorite, who is owned by Tim Kasparoff and trained by his brother Jim, ran the distance in 1:06.53, eclipsing the previous record of 1:06.60 set by G Malleah in 1995 at Turf Paradise in Arizona.
The loss in the Filly And Mare Turf was the second in a row for Nashoba's Key after she had begun her career with eight consecutive victories.
The Silver Hawk mare, who is owned by breeder Warren Williamson and trained by Carla Gaines, finished more than a length behind Quite A Bride after being given too much to do by jockey Joe Talamo.
"She was too far back off a slow pace," Gaines said. "She got to the winner right past the wire."
In the Classic, Go Between won for the second time in as many starts on a synthetic track. Last fall, he won the Fayette at Keeneland.
"When I swung him out around the turn, he really cut and went to running," Gomez said. "The pace pretty much set up the way we thought it would."
While Nashoba's Key was defeated at a short price in her first start of 2008, Ginger Punch did not disappoint in her return.
The 3-10 choice in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream Park, Ginger Punch, the champion older filly/mare of 2007 on the strength of her win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff last fall, rolled to a 6 3/4-length win under jockey Rafael Bejarano.
