1) The Sunshine Millions is a series of races restricted to horses bred in Florida and California.
2) For most of its history, the races were all run on a single day in January at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida and Santa Anita Park in Acadia, California. The races at both locations were open to both Florida- and California-breds.
3) In 2012, the six traditional Sunshine Millions races will all be run at Gulfstream Park and will be restricted to Florida-breds. Santa Anita Park will card three races for California-breds as well as two graded stakes (Santa Monica and Santa Ysabel) for a day being marketed as Sunshine Millions day.
4) The series was created in 2003 by Magna Entertainment (now MI Developments), the corporation that owns Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. It received network television coverage for all of its early history, but NBC stopped covering the event after the 2007 edition. ESPN2 televised the Millions card in 2008, but it has not been on a network television since.
5) The series originally comprised eight races. The Oaks and Dash, both at 6 furlongs and restricted to 3-year-olds, were dropped from the Sunshine Millions day card in 2010. The purses for the remaining six races were also cut in 2010.
6) The biggest race carded on Millions Day is the Classic, which is run at 1 ⅛ miles and currently has a purse of $400,000.
7) The Florida-bred and champion sprinter Lost in the Fog won the Sunshine Millions Dash in 2005 as a 3-year-old. He is the subject of a documentary released in 2008.
8) Florida-bred Ginger Punch, the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and Eclipse winner for older female, won the Sunshine Millions Distaff in the first race of her 2008 campaign.
9) After finishing seventh in the 2005 Sunshine Millions Classic, the great Cal-bred Lava Man returned to win the 2006 edition of the race. He won the 2007 Sunshine Millions Turf, making him the only horse to complete that double.
10) In 2006, Florida-bred Miesque’s Approval won Sunshine Millions Turf at odds 48 to 1. Later that year, he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile at odds of 24 to 1.
