Delray Beach, FL — The Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association hosted week two (of five) of their Sunshine Stakes. It was yet another one for the “books.
Driver Ted Booksaver, himself a “ship-in” from Los Angeles, won the first race in a “walkover,” flawlessly guiding George Birkhold’s Dances With Gators around the slick one mile Sunshine Meadows oval in 2:05.3, subbing for trainer Mickey McNichol.
Booksavers last visit to the winner’s circle was over 25 years ago, guiding Sea Of Light to victory at Monticello Raceway on March 5, 2000.
After the event, Booksaver was asked—tongue-n-cheek—if he had any “anxious moments,” during the trip, quickly saying, “in this mile or from Los Angeles?”
The 57-year-old stressed his appreciation to Owner George Birkhold and trainer Mickey McNichol for the opportunity to get back in the bike after a prolonged absence.
“I’m a Hackensack (N.J.) native and now live out west in L.A. and it’s tough to leave your family, when harness racing is so far away.
“George and Mickey have been really great to me and there are no words that, truthfully, can be great enough to show my gratitude.”
Prior to the win in 2000, Booksaver won two other races at Monticello in 1996.
The eight race program featured the remaining eligibles for their Stakes program as the standardbred program in Florida continues to wind down with the closing of Pompano Park in 2022.
Here are the results:
As is customary, two-year-olds and three-year-olds were featured with the following results:
Race One—Sunshine State Stake Two-Year-Old Filly Pace—$1,800
Booksaver’s win with Dances With Gators (Dancing Yankee-Gator Wont Tell) in 2:05.3 featured by fractions of :31. 1:04.4 and 1:35 along the way. It was the filly’s third of the season in just four starts, padding her earnings to $7,460 to go along with a 2:02 mark at Lebanon.
Race Two—Sunshine State Stake Two-Year-Old Filly Trot—$1,900
SL Mon Petite (Lockkeeper-Tiny Mite), driven by co-owner and trainer Marshall Makin, caught Mis Amigas (Mike Wilder), in the last few yards to score in 2:04.4, a lifetime best performance. Gators No Angel (Mickey McNichol), finished third in the trio.
The filly now sports a scorecard of 4-1-1 in 11 starts boosting her bounty to $14,945 with the 77-year-old Makin recording his 730th career win.
Race Three—Sunshine State Stake Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Trot—$1,850
Trainer Marlin Fry guided Kevin Kelly’s Ugottabkidnme (Play Trix On Me-Gold Star Briana) to a sharp 2:01—:59—:29.3 score—this after a miscue early on, leaving him ten lengths back halfway through the mile. From there, Ugottabkignme kept gnawing away with a last half in :57 to reach the winner’s circle.
It’s Margarita Time (Marshall Makin), was second in this match race of sorts.
Fry, who will be celebrating his milestone 50th birthday in December, earned his 80th lifetime driving win and 88th training victory with the gelding by stalking the leader and collaring his foe in the final yards for the win—his scorecard now at 6-2-2-1 with bounty of $$,419.50.
Race Four—Sunshine State Stake Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Pace—$1,850
McHungry (Stay Hungry-McGibson), superbly handled by Wilder, used a :28.1 finale closing out a final half in :58.3 to score a wire-to-wire win in 2:02.2 for trainer Dan Altmeyer and owners Altmeyer-Wilder Racing, Hutchison Harness, David Wills and Jean Allred.
McHungry now sports three wins in 10 starts and $41,676 in earnings to go along with his 1:53.3f mark in Philadelphia.
Gators Big Victory was second for Ted Booksaver as the scratch of Prairie Hazen reduced the field at two.
Race Five—Sunshine State Stake Three-Year-Old Filly Pace—$1,850
Joe Fiorello, who made the headlines last week with a win in his first purse start, made it two-for-two with Dein Spriggs’ filly Prairie Puma (Royal Millennium) as this Nick Coblentz trainee cut all the mustard with fractions of :31.1, 1:03 and 1:31.4 before reporting home in 2:02.1 with the winning margin she 15 lengths at the wire.
Gator Time was second for Ted Bookstaver as Prairie Puma earned her fourth success of the year—ninth lifetime—to vault her earnings to $42,658 lifetime, $13,814 this semester.
Race Six—Sunshine State Stake—Three-Year-Old Filly Trot—$1,850
Nola Christian (Stormin Normand), who was unable to make the first leg of these Sunshine State Stakes due to transportation issues, made her 2025 debut at Sunshine Meadows a winning one, scoring an effortless 2:03.1—:58.4—29.1 win, outdistancing Sunshine Jet in the process.
Wilder was in the sulky for owner-trainer Thomas Casey as the filly lolly-gagged through an opening panel of :32.4 before noticeably picking up the pace upon entering the “SsM” backstretch.
Wilder, by the way, now is the author of 9,243 wins while now within a “ns” of $80 million in purse earnings for owners.
Race Seven—Sunshine State Stake—Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Trot—$1,850
Trainer Mickey McNichol got in the sulky and guided Jays Gator Boy (Rose Run Nolan) to a perfectly rated win over arch-rival Delray Jet in a lifetime best 2:05.3.
Using his inside post to perfection, Jays Gator Boy out-sprinted his for to the :30.3 opener and got a :33.1 breather to the half in 1:03.4. The two rivals then hooked up in a duel to the wire with Jays Gator Boy holding safe by three-quarters of a length.
It was the second win of the season for Jays Gator Boy, vaulting his career bankroll to $29,542 in just 22 career starts—10 this semester for $11,726 this year.
Race Eight—Sunshine State Stake—Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding Trot—$1,800
Gold Star Lucky (Luck Be Withyou) gave Marlin Fry the easiest of driving doubles with a walkover win for owner Marianne Audley and trainer Nick Coblentz.
Strolling through unhurried fractions of :50, 1:34 and 2:15, the gelding hit the wire in 2:56 to take home the entire purse for the second week in a row, sending his 2025 bounty to $18,320 for the season and $44,989 lifetime .
Gold Star Lucky does have a 1:52.2 mark at Hoosier Park.
By the way, this purse win was nowhere near the record for even the slowest winning pari-mutuel mile in history—that honor going to the three-year-old colt Scotsman on March 17, 1962 with his mile in 3:38.3 at Maywood Perk.
These FSBOA sponsored Sunshine State Stakes honored the memories of Tom Audley, Dr. Melvyn Taylor, Richard Dunmire, Jay Sears and Jim McDonald, longtime contributors to the FSBOA and the Stakes programs in Florida.
Racing continues on Saturdays during November with post time at 11:00 a.m.