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Mucho Macho Man, Awesome Feather well following seasonal debut wins

Sunshine Millions Classic winner Mucho Macho Man had plenty of visitors on Sunday (Adam Coglianese Photography)

Florida Sunshine Millions winners Mucho Macho Man, Awesome Feather and Little Mike all came out of Saturday's races at Gulfstream Park in good order, according to their trainers Sunday morning.

Mucho Macho Man, impressive winning the $400,000 Classic by 1 1/2 lengths over Ron the Greek, was grazing early Sunday morning outside his barn while a large group of fans, including owners from Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Dream Team One Racing Stable, admired the tall four-year-old bay son of Macho Uno.

"Everything is fine," trainer Kathy Ritvo said. "We're all very happy with his performance. He'll give him a couple days and we'll think about what we're going to do next. We have some good options. With the Classic being his first race since November 9, it's nice to see you can give him that kind of time between races and he can run the way he did."

Trainer Chad Brown, who saddled Stronach Stables' undefeated Eclipse winner Awesome Feather for a 5 3/4-length victory in the $300,000 Distaff, said the four-year-old filly came out of her ninth consecutive victory "real good."

Awesome Feather exited her Distaff win in good condition (Adam Coglianese Photography)

"The race was real impressive," said Brown, who watched the Awesome of Course four-year-old filly stalk a :46 3/5 and 1:10 4/5 pace before drawing away down the stretch and covering nine furlongs in 1:49. "I don't have anything picked out right now for her next start. We'll get her back on the track in the next couple days, see how she's doing, and then pick something out."

Also coming out of a Florida Sunshine Millions win in good condition was Priscilla Vaccarezza's five-year-old Florida homebred gelding Little Mike, who ran his Gulfstream Park turf course record to five wins from six starts in the $150,000 Turf with a stunning wire-to-wire score by three-quarters of a length under regular jockey Joe Bravo as the 8-5 favorite.

"He came out of it just fine," trainer Dale Romans said Sunday morning of the son of Spanish Steps who was making his second start back here after spending nearly nine months on the sidelines because of a cracked shin. "He's a better horse this year and I always thought he would go the mile-and-an-eighth because he can relax on the lead."

No decision has been made for Little Mike's next appearance. Winner of three Grade 3 events last year -- the Fort Lauderdale, Canadian Turf and Appleton -- Little Mike's only defeat over the course came in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Turf Handicap going 1 1/8 miles last year as Teaks North pulled off a 25-1 upset, although beaten only 2 1/2 lengths. Teaks North finished fifth in Saturday's race.

Trainer Bill Kaplan reported Sunday morning that champion female sprinter Musical Romance, fourth in the Florida Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint, grabbed a quarter leaving the gate "but it isn't that bad and it looks like we'll be able to get her back to training in four or five days."

Kaplan said the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie Handicap on February 19 will be the next start for the five-year-old daughter of Concorde's Tune.


 

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