While all eyes were on the Eclipse Awards late Saturday evening at Gulfstream Park, earlier in the day Hy Riveside garnered most of the attention for nosing out 34-1 longshot Nauset Beach in the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic.
Nauset Beach set a pressured pace while 3-5 favorite Awesome Slew stalked in third. Hy Riverside also tracked early on between sneaking up between rivals to begin his run rounding the final turn. Those three duked it out in the lane, but Hy Riverside just getting his nose down in a final time of 1:49.39 for 1 1/8-miles over the fast main track.
Piloted by Jose Ortiz for trainer Antonio Sano, Hy Riverside earned his first stakes win in his spot while paying $8.80 as the near 7-2 second choice.
There were four other Sunshine Millions contests on the card, and Our Way provided a close finish when taking the $100,000 Turf by a neck over Enterprising. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back to Reporting Star, who in turn had a neck to spare on 8-5 favorite Go Around in fourth.
The sister race to the Turf, the $100,000 Filly & Mare Turf, was captured by the same neck margin, but this time 4-5 favorite Family Meeting prevailed over 9-5 second pick Frosty Friday. E B Ryder and 47-1 longshot Elizabeth Aurora completed the top four in the 1 1/16-mile grass affair.
The $100,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint continued the trend of small margins thanks to Early Entry’s half-length victory over 8-5 favorite Delta Bluesman. Awesome Banner, the second favorite at 9-5, just missed second by a neck while Yourdreamsormine was another 1 1/4 lengths back in fourth.
The $100,000 Distaff saw 2-1 favorite Mia Torri score a neck triumph over 2-1 second choice You Bought Her while going six furlongs. Moment of Delight, the third pick also at 2-1, followed that pair by 1 1/4 lengths and 73-1 longshot Jamie’s Dancer completed the superfecta.
