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 smooth one-mile Sunshine Meadows oval in 2:05 3/5, filling in for trainer Mickey McNichol.
Booksavers’ last visit to the winner’s circle was more than 25 years ago and led Sea Of Light to victory at Monticello Raceway on March 5, 2000.
After the event, Booksaver was asked tongue-in-cheek if he’d had any “anxious moments” during the trip, quickly saying, “in this mile or from Los Angeles?”
The 57-year-old emphasized his appreciation to owner George Birkhold and trainer Mickey McNichol for the opportunity to get back on the bike after a lengthy absence.
“I’m from Hackensack (NJ) and now live in west LA and it’s hard to leave your family behind when harness racing is so far away.
“George and Mickey have been truly wonderful to me and there are no words, honestly, that can express my gratitude.”
Before the 2000 victory, Booksaver won two other races at Monticello in 1996.
The eight-race program featured the remaining entries in their Stakes program, while the standard program in Florida continues to end with the closure of Pompano Park in 2022.
Here are the results:
As usual, the two-year-olds and three-year-olds achieved the following results:
Race One – Sunshine State Stake Two-year-old filly Tempo – $1,800
Booksaver’s win with Dances With Gators (Dancing Yankee) in 2:05.3, marked by fractions of :31. 1:04.4 and 1:35 on the way. It was the filly’s third of the season in just four starts, increasing her earnings to $7,460, along with a time of 2:02 in Lebanon.
Race Two – Sunshine State Stake Two-Year-Old Filly – $1,900
SL Mon Petite (Lock Keeper), driven by co-owner and trainer Marshall Makin, caught Mis Amigas, driven by Mike Wilder, in the last few meters and scored in 2:04.4, a lifetime best performance. Gators No Angel, driven by Mickey McNichol, finished third in the trio.
The filly now has a scorecard of 4-1-1 in 11 starts, increasing her bounty to $14,945, with the 77-year-old Makin notching his 730th career victory.
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) to a sharp score of 2:01 –:59 –:29.3 – this after an early miscue that left him ten lengths back halfway through the mile. From there, Ugottabkignme continued to grind away with a final half in :57 to reach the winner’s circle.
It’s Margarita Time, with Marshall Makin on his bike, came second in this type of competitive race.
Fry, who celebrates his milestone 50th birthday in December, achieved his 80th lifetime victory and 88th training victory with the gelding by stalking the leader and arresting his foe in the final yards before victory – his scorecard now stands at 6-2-2-1 with a bounty of $$,419.50.
Race Four – Sunshine State Stake Two-year-old colt/moulting pace – $1,850
McHungry (Stay Hungry), handled superbly by Mike Wilder, used a final of :28.1 and closed the last half in :58.3 to score a wire-to-wire victory in 2:02.2 for trainer Dan Altmeyer and owners Altmeyer-Wilder Racing, Hutchison Harness, David Wills and Jean Allred.
McHungry now has three wins in 10 starts and earnings of $41,676 to go with his mark of 1:53.3f in Philadelphia.
Gators Big Victory took second to Ted Booksaver when Prairie Hazen’s scratch cut the field to two.
Race Five – Sunshine State Stake Three-year-old filly Tempo – $1,850
Joe Fiorello, who made headlines last week with a victory in his first purse start, made it two-for-two with Dein Spriggs’ filly Prairie Puma (Royal Millennium) as this Nick Coblentz trainee cut through the mustard with fractions of :31.1, 1:03 and 1:31.4 before reporting home in 2:02.1 with the winning margin of 15 lengths at the wire.
Gator Time placed second to Ted Bookstaver as Prairie Puma achieved her fourth success of the year – her ninth lifetime – and boosted her lifetime earnings to $42,658 lifetime, up from $13,814 this semester.
Race Six – Sunshine State Stakes – Three-Year-Old Filly Trot – $1,850
Nola Christian (Storming Normand), who was unable to make it to the first leg of this SunshineState Stakes due to transportation issues, made her 2025 debut at Sunshine Meadows and scored an effortless 2:03.1 –:58.4 – 29.1 victory to outpace Sunshine Jet.
Mike Wilder was in the sulky for owner-trainer Thomas Casey when the filly was gagged by an opening panel of :32.4 before noticeably picking up the pace entering the “SsM” backstretch.
Wilder, by the way, is now the author of 9,243 wins while now within “ns” of $80 million in owner purse earnings.
Race Seven – Sunshine State Stakes – Three-year-old colt/gelding trot – $1,850
Trainer Mickey McNichol got into the swing of things and guided Jays Gator Boy (Rose Run Nolan) to a perfectly judged victory over archrival Delray Jet in a lifetime best time of 2:05.3.
Jays Gator Boy used his inside post to perfection, sprinting his to the :30.3 opener and getting a :33.1 breather to halftime in 1:03.4. The two rivals then locked in a duel at the wire, with Jay’s Gator Boy holding off three-quarters of a length.
It was the second win of the season for Jays Gator Boy, pushing his career bankroll to $29,542 in just 22 career starts – ten this semester for $11,726 this year.
Race Eight – Sunshine State Stakes – Three-Year-Old Colt/Drotting Gelding – $1,800
Gold Star Lucky (Luck Be Withyou) gave Marlin Fry the easiest doubles match with a walkover victory for owner Marianne Audley and trainer Nick Coblentz.
Strolling through leisurely fractions of :50, 1:34 and 2:15, the gelding hit the wire in 2:56 and took home the entire purse for the second week in a row, bringing his 2025 premium to $18,320 for the season and $44,989 for lifetime.
Gold Star Lucky has a score of 1:52.2 at Hoosier Park.
By the way, this victory was nowhere near the record for even the slowest winning pari-mutuel mile in history; that honor went to the three-year-old colt Scotsman on March 17, 1962 with his mile in 3:38 3/5 at Maywood Perk.
This FSBOA-sponsored Sunshine State Stakes honored the memories of Tom Audley, Dr. Melvyn Taylor, Richard Dunmire, Jay Sears and Jim McDonald, long-time contributors to the FSBOA and Florida Stakes programs.
Racing continues in November on Saturdays with post time at 11am
Racing continues at Sunshine Meadows this Saturday, November 15 with post time at 11am
For full race results, click here: American trotting results
Through John Berryfor the FSBOA
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