Edges Tumbarumba at Wire to Avenge Loss in Fred Hooper (G3)

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Michael Iavarone, Jules Iavarone and Carrie Brogden’s Steal Sunshine, after trailing the field in the early going, came with a steady run down the center of the track and got his nose down on the wire to edge Tumbarumba in Saturday’s $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) presented by Jack Christopher.

The 80th running of the Gulfstream Park Mile for 4-year-olds and up was the sixth of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.85 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program headlined by the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2).

Steal Sunshine ($5) earned his third career stakes win and first in graded company after placing three times, most recently running third in the Jan. 27 Fred Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream in his prior start. It was the third graded victory for trainer Bobby DiBona and first since Hard Enough in the 2014 Red Bank (G3), and second stakes win of the day for jockey Paco Lopez following Abrumar in the $200,000 Colonel Liam for 3-year-olds on the turf.

Il Miracolo was hustled from the gate to the lead by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, going a quarter-mile in 23.71 seconds and a half in 45.81 under pressure from Tumbarumba. Winner of the Fred Hooper, Tumbarumba took over the top spot after six furlongs went in 1:10.14 while Lopez gave Steal Sunshine his cue, the two horses hooking up in mid-stretch and powering to the wire together. The winning time was 1:35.74.

Il Miracolo stayed up for third, with Shaq Diesel fourth and Gilmore fifth. Castle Chaos, Ticking and Wit were scratched.

$200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) Quotes

Winning trainer Bobby DiBona (Steal Sunshine): “I’m so excited, for me, for my team, for the owners. It’s a big opportunity. [Co-owner] Carrie [Brogden]’s been great for me. She’s one of the top breeders in the country. Having her on the team and Mike [Iavarone] coming in, it’s great for me. You work hard for these opportunities. My barn is small so we’re just really excited.”

Winning jockeyu Paco Lopez (Steal Sunshine): “Last time he just got beat. Today, he had the same position but there was a little more speed today. My horse was running today. He had a little more pace. He fought all the way.”