Pegasus: Brown hoping for another good effort from the veteran Fluffy Socks

By David Joseph —-

Fluffy Socks; MJC Photo

Brown hoping for another good effort from the veteran Fluffy Socks

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – For just about all of her career, Fluffy Socks has played at the top level of the game. The 7-year-old mare has run 29 times on grass in her career and 22 of those starts have come in graded company.

She’ll keep that up Saturday when the Chad Brown-trained mare enters the starting gate in the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G2) presented by SirDavis American Whiskey.

The 1 1/16-mile Filly & Mare Turf, for 4-year-olds & up is part of a blockbuster program featuring 10 stakes, seven graded, worth $5.55 million in purses. The day’s headliner is the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and also includes the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational presented by Qatar Racing.

Post time for the first of 13 races on Pegasus Day will be 11 a.m. EST.

Fluffy Socks, a homebred by Slumber from Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners, is a popular horse around the Brown barn. Part of the reason for the popularity is her snappy name – she got it from Kumin’s son, Sam.

She is admired most, though, because she shows up nearly every time she shows up in the big races. Four of her six wins have come in graded stakes, and she has hit the board in nine others. Fluffy Socks, the 5-1 third choice on the morning line, will start from post position five. She was fourth in this race last year.

“She does seem to be training well,” Brown, who won the Filly & Mare Turf in 2022 with Regal Glory, said. “She has been a very consistent horse for us, a barn favorite. When she is on her game and gets the right pace and fires, she can be competitive all the way to the Grade 1 level. We are hoping for an effort like that. It’s going to come down to whether there is a fast enough pace in front of her.

“I am hoping she has her day in this race,” he said. “Although it’s not a Grade 1 yet, it’s a very prominent race. I would love to see her grab it.”

Fluffy Socks was last seen finishing eighth in the one mile Goldikova Stakes (G3) at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

Brown said he will have to wait and see whether or not Fluffy Socks still wants to compete at her advanced age.

“Great question,” he said. “I would say in her works, yes. Her works have pretty much been in line with how she trained last year. She is getting up there in age, so I am into a bit of unchartered territory racing a mare that is seven. I’ve never done it before.”

Fluffy Socks, who will break from post five, will be ridden by Luis Saez for the first time.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has two runners for the Filly & Mare Turf in Resolute Racing’s Pounce and Papilio, owned by D. J. Stable LLC.

The 4-year-old Pounce has shown an affinity for Gulfstream with two wins in as many starts. After winning an allowance last February, she returned a month later to capture the Herecomesthebride (G3) by a neck. She completed her 2024 season with a second-place finish in the Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

In eight career starts on grass, the daughter of Lookin At Lucky has three wins a second and a third.

“She ran a big race at Churchill and we gave her a little bit of a break,” Casse said. “Now, she is going to take on the older girls. I thought when she won the allowance at Gulfstream from an outside (11) post it was extraordinary. At that point, she got my attention. I think Gulfstream moves her up a length or two.”

Pounce will be ridden by Dylan Davis, who was on board when she won the Lake George Stakes (G3) at Saratoga last summer. She drew post position two and is 15-1 on the morning line.

Casse said the 5-year-old Papilio also has an affinity for Gulfstream as she has finished second in all three of her starts, including her last one, the one-mile Suwannee River (G3) on Dec. 21. In that race, her late rally fell a length short to Be Your Best, who is also entered in the Filly & Mare Turf. Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano retains the mount on Papilio, who is by Starspangledbanner.

“She has been unlucky,” Casse said. “She was flying in her last start and got held up and had nowhere to go and then she came on again. She was probably the best horse in the race.”

Papilio drew post position eight and is 8-1 on the morning line.

The 5-year-old Sacred Wish, owned by Black Type Thoroughbreds and partners, will make her Gulfstream debut in the Filly & Mare Turf. Trained by George Weaver, she won Del Mar’s Matriarch (G1) in her last start with Hall of Famer John Velazquez on board. He retains the mount.

Sacred Wish has three wins, three seconds and two third in 10 tries on grass.

She started her career on dirt and ran a credible second in the 2023 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga but then fell apart in the Alabama Stakes (G1), getting beat by 28 lengths. Weaver then switched surfaces.

“She is by a sire (Not This Time) whose runners have shown an affinity for the turf,” Weaver said. “If you have one and you’re not happy with their performance (on dirt), you have to try them on turf. The first time she raced on the grass, she won a stake (listed Winter Memories) and we’ve kept her on it. It has paid off.”

The 9-2 second choice on the morning line, Sacred Wish will start from post position 10.

Todd Pletcher will also saddle a pair in the Filly & Mare Turf. He has 6-year-old mare Bless My Stars, who will be making her second start for the Hall of Fame trainer. She was sixth in the Suwannee River (G3) at Gulfstream on Dec. 21. Bless My Stars, owned by Gary Barber and Team Valor International LLC, ran her first 16 races in South Africa, where she had five wins, a second and three thirds.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride the 8-1 Bless My Stars, who starts from post position 11.

Pletcher also trains 4-year-old Raqiya, who will be making her first start for him and is the 4-1 morning-line favorite. The daughter of Blue Point won the Goldikova Stakes (G3) at Del Mar in her last start Nov. 2. Frankie Detttori, who won the Goldikova, gets the return ride for Shadwell Stable and they drew the rail in the full field of 12.

Be Your Best, from the barn of Saffie Joseph, won the Suwannee River (G3) in her last start; that was the first Gulfstream start for the 5-year-old. Owned by Michael Ryan, she has won four of 17 career starts on grass. Edgard Zayas, who rode her for the first time in the Suwannee River, will be back on board. They drew post position three and are 6-1 on the morning line.

Trainer Richard Baltas is sending 4-year-old Watchtower to South Florida from California where she won three of six tries on grass last year. Owned by a group that includes Michael Iavarone, Watchtower won an allowance at Gulfstream last April. Umberto Rispoli will ride the 20-1 shot who drew post position four.

Minoushka, a 4-year-old trained by Brendan Walsh, will make her third start in the United Staes after running in France for her first eight starts. She was fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs when last seen. Tyler Gaffalione will ride her for the third straight race and the duo drew the seven post. Minoushka’s morning line is 10-1.

Trainer Ignacio Correas IV won the Filly & Mare Turf last year with Didia. He will saddle Chilean import Dona Clota for the first time. The 4-year-old has won four of 11 career starts in Chile and makes her U.S. debut. She drew post position six and has 15-1 morning line odds for jockey Jose Ortiz.

Trainer Christophe Clement’s See Your Around will start from post position 12 and was installed with a 20-1 morning line. The 4-year-old filly, owned by Cotton House Racing, will be ridden by Oisin Murphy. She won the listed Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream in her last start on Dec. 14. She has won four of nine career starts on grass.

Trainer Jack Sisterton’s Ocean Club drew the nine post and is 15-1 on the morning line. The 5-year-old daughter of Curlin has two wins, two seconds and two thirds in eight career grass starts. She was third in the Suwannee River (G3) in her last start. Edwin Gonzalez, who has ridden Ocean Club six times, gets the mount.

The race also has two also eligibles in the Saffie Joseph-trained In Our Time and De Regreso from the barn of Antonio Sano.

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