Bold Chieftain, Baze use wild, weaving rally to take Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita

Bold Chieftain, Baze win Sunshine Millions Classic

ARCADIA, Calif. — Bold Chieftain and jockey Russell Baze wove through tight traffic to complete a wild rally and beat Palladio by a neck as heavy favorite The Usual Q.T. faded to last in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The win was one of only two for California horses Saturday as Florida continued its eight years of dominance in the Sunshine Millions, a six-race competition between horses bred in the two states held jointly at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla.

A 7-year-old trained and partly owned by Bill Morey Jr., Bold Chieftain was seventh in the early going, moved up to sixth on the final turn and split and bumped horses through the stretch for the win, covering 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.33.

“This ranks right up there with any race I’ve ever won, anywhere,” said the 51-year-old Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history. “We were in some pretty tight straits there turning for home. I didn’t know if I was going to get through or not, but a hole presented itself coming to the three-sixteenths and we got through.”

Morey also had a memorable time watching the win.

“There were three veterans out there: the rider, the trainer and the horse,” he said. “These are the kinds of things that leave you breathless and make the game so much fun, and we’re supposed to have fun out here. There’s a little bit of money in it, too.”

Bold Chieftain paid $12.20, $4.80 and $4. Palladio paid $6.60 and $4.40. The longest shot in the field, Unusual Smoke, was third and paid $13.40 to show.

The Usual Q.T. — coming off six straight victories on turf but switching to Santa Anita’s synthetic surface for the Classic — was second in the early going but weakened badly in the final furlong and finished last in the field of nine.

Bold Chieftain earned $275,000 for the win, his 15th in 35 starts, 14 of them with Baze in the irons. The horse has earned a lifetime total of $1,406,411.

Morey had said before the race that it would likely be Bold Chieftain’s last, but was reconsidering after the rousing win.

“When he runs races like this, it’s pretty hard not to be looking down the road at another one,” Morey said.

The purse for the previously million-dollar Classic was cut in half and the Sunshine Millions was reduced from eight races to six amid economic woes.

In the top race at Gulfstream, Jet Propulsion led gate-to-wire to win the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Turf.

The 7-year-old Florida-bred gelding and rider Julien Leparoux opened a huge, six-length lead on the field of nine on the backstretch but still easily held off a rally from Pickapocket to win by two lengths, covering 1 1-8 miles in 1:45.96 and paying $8, $5.40 and $4.

Pickapocket paid $6.60 and $4.20. Picou paid $4.60. The favorite, Soldier’s Dancer, was fourth.

Also at Gulfstream, the favored Sweet Repent comfortably won the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff for fillies and mares, beating Jessica is Back by 3¾ lengths, and fellow favorite This Ones For Phil won the $200,000 Sprint by a nose.

Back at Santa Anita, overwhelming favorite and Florida-bred Tight Precision won the $300,000 Filly and Mare Turf by 1½ lengths over Bootleg Annie, and California-bred Quisisana won the $200,000 Filly and Mare Sprint by a nose over Dubai Majesty.