Art G Is Back to Face Millions Classic Preview Field

Monarch Stables' Art G Is Back will return to the dirt when he faces four other Florida-bred entries in the $75,000 Millions Classic Preview Stakes Nov. 9 at Gulfstream Park West.

The 1 1/16-mile Millions Classic Preview for Florida-bred 3-year-olds and older is one of nine stakes for state-breds—each offering a $75,000 purse—on an 11-race Sunshine Millions Preview program that serves as a prep for the Jan. 18 Sunshine Millions Day program during the Gulfstream Park Championship Meet.

Art G Is Back enters off a seventh-place finish in the open Sept. 21 Bear's Den Stakes on the Gulfstream turf, but before that race he won the seven-furlong Benny The Bull Stakes Aug. 24 over other Florida-breds on the main track. That narrow victory gave the son of Exchange Rate three straight wins on dirt.

Art G Is Back is trained by Ron Spatz, who underwent triple-bypass heart surgery three weeks ago but is already back at work. Spatz thinks Saturday's race is a good fit in terms of surface and a bit of a challenge in distance.

"I think he's a little better on dirt," Spatz said. "I think his best distance is seven furlongs or a mile. He has been two turns once at a mile and a sixteenth at Gulfstream when he was younger. He led all the way and got beat in the last two jumps. It wasn't a bad race. He's an older horse now. He should be OK with that distance.

"We're going to try this and see if he deserves to go in the Sunshine Millions Classic," he added. "We're also experimenting with the (Gulfstream Park West) surface. He's never been on it. We'll see."

Saturday's field also features last year's Millions Classic Preview Stakes winner, Mr. Jordan, who will try to return to form after off-the-board finishes in his previous two races.

In Saturday's other stakes:

• Super Super Stable's Driven by Thunder, by Overdriven, enters the Millions Turf Preview Stakes off a front-running score in the Sept. 6 James H. Kyle Stakes on the Gulfstream turf.
• Matalona Thoroughbreds' Stormy Embrace, winner of this year's Princess Rooney Stakes (G2) in late June at Gulfstream, will face an expected five other fillies and mares in the Millions Distaff Stakes.
• Don and Rebecca Ming homebred Captain D will try for his first stakes score after earning placings in his previous two stakes efforts when he starts in the Juvenile Turf Stakes.
• Entered off a third-place finish in the Sept. 21 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes (G3) at Laurel Park, Sagamore Farm's He Hate Me will try to nail down his first 2019 stakes win in the Millions Sprint Preview Stakes.
• Stakes-placed Filly Jean King, a daughter of Brethren  who races for Arindel, will start from the inside in the Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes.
• Amalio Ruiz-Lozano's Ceci Valentina will try to secure her second stakes win this season when the daughter of Prospective returns to sprinting in the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes.
• Robert Amendola's Una Luna will try to end a run of "seconditis" when the daughter of Dunkirk starts in the Millions Filly and Mare Turf Preview Stakes off three straight runner-up finishes.
• After running second to Chance It in his stakes debut in the FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality Stakes, Stonehedge homebred Smash Factor will try the Juvenile Sprint Stakes.

Entries: Millions Turf Preview S.

GULFSTREAM PARK WEST, Saturday, November 09, 2019, Race 1

• STK
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $75,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 12:00 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Freedom Matters (FL)	Cristian A. Torres	120	Allen Iwinski	8/1
2	2Totono (FL)	Santiago Gonzalez	118	Nick J. Mastronardi, Jr.	30/1
3	3Driven by Thunder (FL)	Hector Isaac Berrios	124	Amador Merei Sanchez	2/1
4	4Second Mate (FL)	Reylu Gutierrez	124	Michael J. Maker	7/2
5	5Swagger Jagger (FL)	Samy Camacho	120	Michael J. Maker	8/1
6	6Timmy M. (FL)	Jairo Rendon	118	Joseph F. Orseno	6/1
7	7Galleon Mast (FL)	Paco Lopez	122	David Fawkes	5/2

Entries: Millions Classic Preview S.

GULFSTREAM PARK WEST, Saturday, November 09, 2019, Race 4

• STK
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $75,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 1:26 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Red Crescent (FL)	Samy Camacho	120	John G Vinson	7/2
2	2Richard the Great (FL)	Rajiv Maragh	122	Juan Alvarado	9/5
3	3Mr. Jordan (FL)	Paco Lopez	122	Edward Plesa, Jr.	4/1
4	4Art G Is Back (FL)	Edgard J. Zayas	122	Ronald B. Spatz	2/1
5	5Hy Riverside (FL)	Jeffrey Sanchez	124	Jorge Delgado	8/1

Entries: Juvenile Fillies Sprint S.

GULFSTREAM PARK WEST, Saturday, November 09, 2019, Race 8

• STK
• 6 1/2f
• Dirt
• $75,000
• 2 yo Fillies
• 3:26 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Delta Hutch (FL)	Dick Cardenas	118	S. Tony Bennett	20/1
2	2Ms Big Spring (FL)	Paco Lopez	118	David Fawkes	6/1
3	3Mandamus (FL)	Emisael Jaramillo	118	Nagib Aboughaida	10/1
4	4Itsenough (FL)	Edgar S. Prado	118	Henry Collazo	15/1
5	5Mochaccino (FL)	Edgard J. Zayas	118	Todd A. Pletcher	5/1
6	6Ceci Valentina (FL)	Marcos Meneses	122	Angel M. Rodriguez	4/1
7	7Let's Be Honest (FL)	Cristian A. Torres	118	Larry Pilotti	7/2
8	8Go Gator Girl Go (FL)	Victor Lebron	118	Michael Yates	12/1
9	9Big Affair (FL)	Jairo Rendon	118	David Fawkes	3/1