Turf and Sprint events make up Florida Sunshine Millions undercard stakes

Bad Debt is scheduled to make his 48th career start in

Saturday's $150,000

Florida Sunshine Millions Turf on Gulfstream Park's Florida Sunshine

Millions Day, but the many

miles he's logged over turf courses throughout the East Coast haven't caught up

with the resilient seven-year-old gelding.

"He ran his lifetime best the race before his last one, so

I'd have to say there hasn't been any deterioration of his form right now,"

trainer Michael Trombetta said.

Two starts back, Bad Debt turned in an explosive

performance at Gulfstream to win the $125,000 Millions Turf Preview, previously

named the Bonnie Heath Turf Cup, by 6 1/2 lengths.

"We've been very fortunate.

He's won the race three years in a row, twice at Calder, then they moved it over

to Gulfstream and changed the name," Trombetta said. "To do it three years in a

row is quite remarkable."

Claimed for $35,000 by Trombetta in 2010, Bad Debt has

earned $700,000 in purses while finishing first, second or third in 37 of his 47

starts. In his most recent start at Calder, Bad Debt ran third in the

Tropical Park Handicap, just 1 3/4 lengths behind the winner.

Spring Up and Old Time Hockey have both shipped in from

Santa Anita for the race. The former will be making his stakes debut while

seeking his fifth victory in seven starts. The four-year-old son of Spring at Last

was claimed by trainer John Sadler for $20,000 off a maiden victory over Del

Mar's synthetic course. Since being switched to turf three starts ago, Spring Up

finished second at a mile before registering back-to-back victories at the Turf

distance of 1 1/8 miles.

Old Time Hockey, trained by Tom Proctor, broke his maiden at Gulfstream in

2012 and is a Grade 2 winner at Del Mar courtesy of that same year's La Jolla

Handicap. He'll enter Saturday's race off a sixth-placing in the 1 3/4-mile

Breeders' Cup Marathon on Santa Anita's dirt.

Claimed for $50,000 at the tail end of the 2012 Saratoga

meeting, Hobbs has turned out to be a multiple stakes winner, as well as quite a

bargain. Had previous owner Mike Repole not been seeking to become

the leading owner of the Saratoga meeting for the second straight year, trainer

Kathy Mongeon likely wouldn't be saddling the five-year-old gelding for Saturday's

Turf.

Two starts later after the claim, Mongeon saddled Hobbs for a victory in

the overnight Montserrat at Aqueduct. Owned by Peter Kelly, Mongeon's

longtime client, Hobbs won an allowance at Gulfstream last winter before

capturing the Turf Classic at Tampa Bay Downs last April.

"He's won at six racetracks. He's won at Saratoga,

Aqueduct, Belmont, Tampa, Gulfstream and Monmouth," Mongeon said. "There's not

many horses that will win at six different tracks."

Hobbs had been running in stakes in New Jersey and New York but returned to South

Florida last out to finish off-the-board following a troubled trip in the El Prado at

Gulfstream on December 28.

"He just couldn't get out," Mongeon said. "The horse was so frustrated after

the race."

Hobbs also has a victory over the Gulfstream course to his

credit, an optional claiming allowance triumph last February.

The bay

filly has been competing with the best out west, winning the San Clemente

Handicap at Del Mar and the Autumn Miss at Santa Anita. She was

also a close second in the Del Mark Oaks, and was beaten only 1 1/2 lengths

when sixth in the Matriarch Stakes last out at Hollywood Park on

December 1.

"We were looking for something for her after the first of

the year, and I thought it would be a good chance to get her back to Florida," Proctor said

of his trainee. "I thought I could run her one time and let her spend a

little time on the farm after the race, and then we'll have her for the rest of

the year. She'll go to Glen Hill for 30 days after Saturday.

"I had her mother (dual Grade 3 winner Rich in Spirit) and she made a lot of money on the grass,

and Wishing Gate always did look like a grass filly," Proctor added. "I always

thought she was pretty nice. She's been doing well and she got in last night

along with Old Time Hockey."

Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens, who returned to

race-riding last spring, will ride both Wishing Gate and Old Time Hockey for

Glen Hill and Proctor. Drawn in post three, Wishing Gate will be the 121-pound

highweight in the nine-furlong Filly & Mare Turf.

Come Saturday, Ribo Bobo will attempt to complete his

transformation in the $150,000

Florida Sunshine Millions Sprint.

"He's been doing great," Servis said. "I'm taking it race by race with him. I

just try to stay out of his way."

Ribo Bobo's winning streak included wins in the September 2 Icecapade at Monmouth and the Maryland Million Sprint on October 19

at Laurel Park.

The son of Louis Quatorze usually leads at every call, but Servis said his

charge is tractable.

"He can run any way; he can come from off the pace, like

when he won the stakes at Monmouth, or he can be on the lead," Servis pointed

out. "There's no pressure for him to run a certain way. He's in good shape."

Paco Lopez, who has ridden the gelding in his last two outings, will be in the

irons once again on Saturday.

Star Harbour finished fifth in the Sunshine Millions Sprint 12 months ago,

but was offered for $35,000 at Saratoga on August 29 and has proven to be an

excellent claim. After finishing third in Belmont's Duck Dance on October 6, the

Indian Charlie bay horse then scored in the Sunshine State Stakes at Gulfstream on

December 8.

Trainer Bobby Dibona originally intended to await this contest, but

called an audible to run Star Harbour in the Mr. Prospector on

December 28. After setting a contested pace, he couldn't withstand

Singanothersong and Fort Loudon, and wound up third as the 6-5 favorite.

That Stanley Gold-trained five-year-old ran on Florida Sunshine Millions Day

12 months ago, finishing third in the Classic behind Ron the Greek, but will cut

back for the six-furlong Sprint in an attempt to earn his first win since taking

the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship last February 9.

Two races earlier, the $150,000

Florida Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint at six furlongs drew a

field of seven including Sweet N Discreet, who was cross-entered in the Distaff by 10-time defending Gulfstream meet champion trainer Todd Pletcher.

The four-year-old daughter of Discreet Cat, Sweet N Discreet had

a two-race win streak snapped when making her stakes bow in the December 29 Ocala at

Gulfstream last out. In that race, she took the

lead after six furlongs and carried it into the stretch before tiring to second,

beaten two lengths.