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Something Awesome Breezes for $9 Million Pegasus World Cup (G1)
Posted On 06 Jan 2019
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By David Joseph —-
Stablemate Unbridled Juan Works, Possible for Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1)
Audible, Gunnevera Continue Pegasus Preparations Saturday
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Stronach Stables’ millionaire homebred Something Awesome breezed Saturday morning for the first time since arriving in South Florida ahead of his next scheduled assignment in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park.
Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado was aboard as multiple graded-stakes winner Something Awesome went one mile in 1:42 over Gulfstream’s main track. Prado will ride in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, the richest race in North America.
Video of Something Awesome work: https://youtu.be/R9wQu18PXHI
Video of Accelerate work: https://www.xbtv.com/video/workout/accelerate-worked-6-furlongs-in-113-40-at-santa-anita-park-on-january5th-2019/
“I had another horse at the half-mile pole and they finished together,” trainer Jose Corrales said. “He did it very comfortable. Everything looks good.”
It was the first work for Something Awesome since going 1 1/8 miles in 2:01 at his home base of Laurel Park Dec. 15. He shipped to Gulfstream on Christmas Day and has been getting acclimated to his surroundings.
“I don’t care about the time; I just care about the horse and how he reacts and how he finishes and how he comes back,” Corrales said. “He’s handled everything very, very good. Everything is good so far.”
Something Awesome won five of his first six starts since joining Corrales in the fall of 2017, including victories in the seven-furlong General George (G3) and Harrison E. Johnson Memorial at Laurel and $1.2 million Charles Town Classic (G2), the latter two at 1 1/8 miles.
The 8-year-old Awesome Again gelding has made one start since the Pimlico Special (G3) May 18, finishing second to Maryland Coalition Stakes winner Colonel Sharp in an open seven-furlong allowance Nov. 16 at Laurel. Colonel Sharp came back to win the Dave’s Friend Stakes Dec. 29.
Overall, Something Awesome has nine wins and $1.093 million in purse earnings from 26 career starts. He has raced twice previously at Gulfstream, running third in a pair of seven-furlong optional claiming allowances Jan. 7 and Feb. 17, 2017.
Also working for Corrales Saturday at Gulfstream was another Stronach Stables homebred, 7-year-old gelding Unbridled Juan, who went seven furlongs in 1:04.44. Winner of the Richard W. Small and Grover ‘Buddy’ Delp Memorial Stakes in his last two starts, he is being considered for the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), the richest grass race in North America.
Unbridled Juan, second in the 2018 Dixie (G3) and third in the 2017 Eclipse (G2), has seven wins and $505,323 in purse earnings from 26 career starts. In his lone try on turf he was fourth in the 2017 King Edward (G2) at Woodbine, but he has also raced five times over its all-weather surface, including the Eclipse
“He did OK. Everything is good with him,” Corrales said. “I think with the way he’s training, he can compete in that kind of race.”
Also Saturday, likely Pegasus favorite and 2018 Horse of the Year finalist Accelerate went six furlongs in a bullet 1:13.40 at Santa Anita; 2017 Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible was clocked in 1:01.45 for five furlongs, ranking fourth of eight horses at Palm Beach Downs; and multiple graded-stakes winner Gunnevera, third in the 2018 Pegasus, breezed six furlongs in 1:15.20 at Gulfstream Park West.
Accelerate’s John Sadler-trained stablemate Catapult, a multiple Grade 2 winner who ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) last out, worked six furlongs in 1:14 Saturday at Santa Anita for the Pegasus Turf.
The Stronach Group (TSG) is a world-class technology, entertainment and real estate development company with Thoroughbred racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core. TSG encompasses five distinct business areas that are inter-related and supportive of each other, enabling TSG to be the most dominant player in the Thoroughbred horse racing industry in the United States, with business relations around the globe. TSG business areas include Technology, Entertainment, Racing, Real Estate Development and Agriculture. TSG is dedicated to delivering the best in class Thoroughbred racing content and operations. The company holds some of the greatest brands in the industry, including Southern California’s Santa Anita Park, “The Great Race Place”; South Florida’s Gulfstream Park, home to the US $16 million Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series and retail destination, The Village at Gulfstream Park; Pimlico Race Course, home of the legendary Preakness Stakes, Laurel Park and Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland; Oregon’s Portland Meadows; and the San Francisco Bay Area’s, Golden Gate Fields. TSG is a leader in digital and mobile wagering technology through its subsidiaries AmTote and Xpressbet and is a major distributor of horse racing content to a global audience through Monarch Content. For more information contactdavid.joseph@gulfstreampark.com.
