Musical Romance Targets Florida Sunshine Millions

Pinnacle Racing and Bill Kaplan’s Musical Romance, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), was back on the track earlier this week and doing “fantastic,” according to co-owner and trainer Bill Kaplan.

“She couldn’t have come out any better,” said Kaplan from his Calder stable. “She ran 14 times this year and she seems to get better each time she runs and I don’t think she’s anywhere near her best.”

Kaplan said he plans to train the 4-year-old filly up to the January 28 Florida Sunshine Millions at Gulfstream in the $150,000 Filly & Mare Sprint. The daughter of Concorde’s Tune, purchased for $22,000 by Kaplan, has won nine of 33 starts and $1.2 million.

Kaplan believes his 4-year-old filly deserves strong consideration for an Eclipse Award after racing across five different tracks – dirt, turf and synthetic – and racing from January through November. Musical Romance won the Presque Isle Masters (G1) and was beaten a neck by Sassy Image in the Princess Rooney (G1).

“There’s no doubt in my mind she’s a deserving Eclipse winner,” Kaplan said. “She’s really an incredible filly. Just look at her record. We experimented running her long early in the year, but since she’s been sprinting every race she’s run has been dynamic. She got nipped by Sassy Image only because she never saw her coming. Since she started sprinting nine races back, she’s exploded.”