KMAX: Sports

That's the purse being offered for Gulfstream Park's feature race in the inaugural Sunshine Millions. The event Saturday is limited to horses bred in Florida and California in four races at Gulfstream and four at Santa Anita.

``Traveling to run in a $1 million race makes the trip sweeter,'' said trainer Ian Jory, whose California-bred Continental Red arrived at Gulfstream this week from Santa Anita in pursuit of the big payday.

The Sunshine Millions hasn't attracted as much hype as that other Florida-California matchup, Sunday's Super Bowl between Tampa Bay and Oakland. But horsemen from the two states are excited about the total purse of $3.6 million.

Excluding the annual Breeders' Cup, the Sunshine Millions is the nation's richest one-day horse-racing event.

``It's a wonderful thing for Florida-breds and Cal-breds to be running for this type of money,'' said Miami-based trainer Ralph Ziadie, who entered horses in two races. ``I think we're going to have a bumper day. It's very good for racing.''

The Sunshine Millions was created by organizations representing owners and horsemen in the two states and by the tracks, both owned by Magna Entertainment Corp.

``Everyone knows full well that to get the six of us all to work together and pull this off is a minor miracle in itself,'' Gulfstream president Scott Savin said. ``But we got it done.''

Magna chairman Frank Stronach bought one hour of time on NBC so that three races could be televised live. That includes the 1 1-8-mile Ocala Classic, which has the day's richest purse at either track.

Twelve 4-year-olds and up are entered, and Florida-bred Best of the Rest is favored for a fourth start in a row at 7-2. Trainer Eddie Plesa's 8-year-old gelding, owned by Bea Oxenberg, has won nine stakes and 13 of 26 starts.

Continental Red opens at 4-1 and will start on the rail, while Florida-bred The Judge Sez Who is the third choice at 5-1. But the race is considered wide open and tough to predict because many of the entries have never raced against each other.

``They've got the best horses from California and the best from Florida,'' said the Miami-based Plesa. ``It's going to make for as competitive a race as I've seen here for a long time.''

Also entered are Florida-breds Booklet (8-1), who won the 2002 Fountain of Youth and Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream, and 10-year-old gelding Sir Bear (20-1), who has won a graded stakes each of the past five years.

``He's like me he's getting younger every day,'' said Ziadie, who is Sir Bear's trainer. ``You'll see Saturday. He's like a 2-year-old.''

The Ocala Classic will be preceded by the $250,000 Ocala Stud Dash, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds. California-bred Excessive Pleasure is a 6-5 favorite in a field of seven, with Florida-bred Valid Video starting on the rail as a 5-2 second choice.

Also on Gulfstream's program are the $250,000 Padua Stables Filly & Mare Sprint, a six-furlong dash, and the $350,000 Franks Farm Filly & Mare Turf, a 1 1-8-mile race. Both are for 4-year-olds and up.