BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL—Cliff and Michele Love’s multiple graded-stakes winning homebred Damon’s Mound asserted his class when challenged at the top of the stretch and drew off to a popular front-running two-and-a-half-length triumph in Saturday’s $75,000 Sunshine Sprint at Gulfstream Park. The six-furlong Sunshine Sprint was for six Florida-breds, 4-years-old and older on the main track.
Ridden by Junior Alvarado for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Damon’s Mound covered a fast track in 1:09.19, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the Sunshine Sprint, inaugurated in 2003. He is the second to win it twice following X Y Jet in 2014 and 2016.
“Horses like him don’t come around like this that often,” Alvarado said of Damon’s Mound. “He’s a very classy horse, a very neat horse and he does everything right. I think most of the time, he shows up.”
Damon’s Mound had his morning line favoritism deepend with the early scratch of multiple stakes-winning mare Ms. Bucchero, going off the 1-5 top choice. He broke alertly from the rail and immediately established a forward position, leading through splits of :22.89 and :45.76 while tracked to his outside by Gulfstream’s 2024 Juvenile Sprint winner Big Paradise.
“I wasn’t mad that the filly got scratched because the less competition, the better sometimes,” Alvarado said. “He was good today. He broke out of there very sharp, put himself on the lead and like Mr. Mott always says, ‘Don’t take away what comes easy.’ He was doing it pretty nicely, so I just stayed with it. When I asked for his best, he was there for me. He ran pretty nice today.”
Big Paradise and jockey Edgar Perez moved up alongside Damon’s Mound exiting the far turn but Alvarado gave the 6-year-old bay son of Girvin his cue once straightened for home and he responded by steadily edging clear. Big Paradise held second, followed by Nothingsubtle, Keep On Moving, Neshume and Raging Fury.
Damon’s Mound paid $2.60 to win.
Damon’s Mound’s only two wins against Florida-bred competition have been wins in the Sunshine Sprint. He owns six stakes wins including the 2022 Saratoga Special (Grade 2), 2023 Gallant Bob (G2) and 2025 Bold Ruler (G3), the latter two with Alvarado aboard. The $46,035 winner’s share pushed his career bankroll to $924,005 from seven wins, two seconds and two thirds in 18 starts.
“I was pretty happy with what was underneath me. Even at the three-eighths pole when he got a little pressure on the outside, he never hesitated,” Alvarado said. “He was waiting for my call and right when we turned for home, he took off again.”
Damon’s Mound is out of multiple stakes-placed Stroll mare San Antonio Stroll, a producer of two winners from four starters and six foals. Bred by Cliff Love and raced by Cliff and Michele Love, San Antonio Stroll has an unnamed 2-year-old colt by Ocala Stud stallion Roadster and a yearling filly by Girvin. She was bred to Girvin in 2025. The Loves sold San Antonio Stroll for $175,000 through the 2023 Fasig-Tipton August Digital Sale where she was purchased by Girvin’s Girls.
–Brock Sheridan contributed to this story
Return to the January 17 issue of Wire to Wire
