The Grade I Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes

Posted On 25 Jan 2019

By Rick Francis —-

Gulfstream Park

Race 12) 1&1/8th Mile. Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Grade I. Purse
$9,000,000 THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD

1) Bravazo (Lukas/Saez) M/L 12-1; hasn’t visited the winner’s circle in close to a year, although he came close last out finishing a neck back in the Grade 1 Clark.Colt has been working sharply and a board spot is very possible.

2) Something Awesome (Corrales/Prado) M/L 20-1; 8-year-old padded his bankroll with a score in the pricey Charles Town Classic, however he struggles against minor competition.

3) City of Light (McCarthy/Castellano) M/L 5-2; Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile champion has never finished out of the money and faces the Eclipse Older Horse Champ Accelerate for the third time, the “Rubber-Match”. 5-year-old by Quality Road smoked a bullet work here last week; an obvious win threat.

4) Seeking the Soul (Stewart/Velazquez) M/L 12-1; ran fifth in this contest a year ago; throw out his Woodward effort and you’ve got a guy that brings it each and every time out; barn is well known for blowing up exotics.

5) Accelerate (Sadler/Rosario) M/L 9-5; Eclipse winner for Older Male and finalist for Horse of the Year has done little wrong in 2018, winning 6-of-7 starts including a determined effort in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A neck loss to his nemesis City of Light in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap being his only blemish; evey indication is he’s taking to the track and is a “Happy” horse. You have to include in every type of wager.

6) Tom’s d’Etat (Stall/Bridgmohan) M/L 20-1; a very scary entry here. Injuries have plagued this 6-year-old out of Smart Strike but those issues appear to be behind him; and though he’s won 6-of-7 starts, OC’s from Fair Grounds to Churchill are not this field. Nevertheless, he’s a hot horse and one to not overlook especially with in race exotics.

7) True Timber (McLaughlin/Bravo) M/L 30-1; runner-up in each of his last two, the G3 Bold Ruler and last out in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, which is probably the distance he should remain at.

8) Gunnevera (Sano/Ortiz, I) M/L 8-1; started his 2018 with a steady third in this contest and finished 2018 with gaining second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. You can’t dismiss one whose finished in the money with 8-of-9 of his Gulfstream starts, and we won’t.

9) Kukulkan (Gutierrez/Dettori) M/L 30-1; Mexican-bred is a perfect 14-for-14, but with only a little over $300k in winnings one has to question the level of competition he’s faced, and we do.

10) Audible (Pletcher/Prat) M/L 10-1; 2018’s Florida Derby winner is another whose successes at this track can be taken for granted, winning twice along with a second from three GP starts. Connections had hoped for a better tune-up than he put forth last out in the Harlan’s Holiday, however track conditions that day were at best sloppy; he’s a keeper in the mix.

11) Imperative (Quartarolo/Gaffalione) M/L 30-1; aging veteran is the picture of getting a check in Graded Stakes contests, but Father Time is knocking on the door of this 9-year-old and somewhere there’s a pasture with his name on it.

12) Patternrecognition (Brown/Ortiz, J)M/L 10-1; I still believe Big Brown was the last to win at today’s route breaking from post 12, and though he’s won three straight, he’s no Big Brown.