Pegasus News & Notes: Hall of Famer Pletcher Well-Represented on Pegasus World Cup Day Program

By David Joseph —-

Pegasus World Cup Day News & Notes

Hall of Famer Pletcher Well-Represented on Pegasus World Cup Day Program

Led by Integration, McGaughey has Three of a Kind for Pegasus Turf

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher is no stranger to success at Gulfstream Park, having led the Championship Meet trainer standings an unprecedented 18 consecutive years between 2004 and 2021.

Pletcher has often been at his best on the biggest days, such as his record eight victories in Gulfstream’s signature race, the $1 million Florida Derby (G1), one of the most prestigious prep races in the country on the road to the Triple Crown.

Since the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) was introduced in 2017 and the supporting program expanded to include complementary grass races in 2019 and 2022 Pletcher has once again been prominent, winning the World Cup with Life is Good in 2022 and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) with Colonel Liam in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s a great day of racing,” Pletcher said. “It’s an enthusiastic, different kind of crowd. The Pegasus has turned out to be a marquee older horse race, and to have the two turf races complement it as well as a great undercard, it’s really kind of the first big day of racing on the year. It seems like it’s found a home, and it’s good to see that kind of racing and that quality of horses running this early in the year.”

Once again Pletcher will be well-represented Saturday. He has Locked and Crupi entered in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup, Major Dude and Grand Sonata in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf presented by Qatar Racing, and Raqiya and Bless My Stars in the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G2) presented by SirDavis American Whiskey.

Pletcher and his former assistant, Michael McCarthy, who has Formidable Man in the Pegasus Turf, are both going for a Pegasus sweep. McCarthy won the World Cup with City of Light in 2019 and the Filly & Mare Turf with Queen Goddess in 2023.

Crupi ran third in last year’s Pegasus World Cup, beaten less than five lengths after rallying from last. Winner of the Suburban (G2) last summer, he was most recently placed fourth in the Clark (G2) over Thanksgiving weekend.

“I think he’s remained pretty consistent,” Pletcher said. “He’s a horse that’s a little bit pace dependent. He wants to drop back and make a run and will benefit if there’s a good, solid pace. He’s been pretty consistent over his career. I thought his third in this race last year was a big effort and if he can improve on that a little bit he can hopefully get a piece of it again.”

Locked, the narrow 5-2 program favorite over White Abarrio (3-1), was knocked from the Triple Crown trail last spring and resurfaced in the fall with back-to-back victories in New York capped by beating his elders in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile (G2).

“We were frustrated. Obviously we had high hopes going into his 3-year-old campaign coming off a Grade 1 win in the Breeders’ Futurity and third in the Breeders’ Cup. He had a setback so it kind of delayed us, but we got on track late,” Pletcher said. “We’ve always had very, very high expectations for him and he delivered in a big way as a 2-year-old, and to beat older horses in the Cigar Mile in his second start as a 3-year-old I thought was a big effort. I think he’s going to get even better going further.”

Millionaires Major Dude and Grand Sonata are both multiple graded-stakes winners each seeking their first Grade 1 success in the Pegasus Turf. Major Dude has been third or better in 12 of 18 starts with seven wins including a rallying neck triumph in Gulfstream’s Pegasus Turf prep, the Dec. 21 Fort Lauderdale (G2).

“Major Dude is ultra-consistent,” Pletcher said. “I think he likes a little bit of cover [to] make a late run like he did in the Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully he can work out that same kind of trip.”

Grand Sonata ran fourth in the Fort Lauderdale, beaten 1 ½ lengths in a solid bounce-back effort after finishing a troubled 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1). The blinkers the 6-year-olds wore for the first time in the Fort Lauderdale will come off Saturday.

“We experimented with some blinkers on last time and it maybe had him a little closer to the pace than we’d like him, so we’ll take the blinkers off for this race,” Pletcher said. “He’s a horse that has shown he’s capable of winning a big one when things go right. Hopefully backing him up in the Fort Lauderdale and sharpening him up a little bit will have him on point for this.”

Irish-bred Raqiya was a front-running winner of the one-mile Goldikova (G3) on the Del Mar turf over Breeders’ Cup weekend in her first domestic start. She’s likely to be among the front-runners again, having drawn the rail under internationally acclaimed jockey Frankie Dettori.

“She was impressive at Del Mar and we picked her up after that. She settled in beautifully and she’s been training great. We’re excited about getting her going in there,” Pletcher said. “I think there’s enough speed in this race. She’s probably going to get a lite bit of cover. She showed at Del Mar she’s capable of going to the front but we’ll kind of leave that in Dettori’s hands and see what he thinks.”

Bless My Stars is a South African-bred mare that is a Group 1 and Group 2 winner at home who ran sixth by less than two lengths in the one-mile Suwannee River (G3) Dec. 21 at Gulfstream in her lone U.S. start. Irad Ortiz Jr., up in that race, returns to ride.

“I think she’s a filly that wants to settle and make a run, so she’d benefit from a good pace,” Pletcher said. “I thought she had a good effort actually in her first race here. She was on the far outside and that’s a tough draw going the mile here. She had to kind of circle the field and she closed really well and didn’t get beat far. Irad was very pleased with her. I think with that race under her belt it can move her forward.”

Among the 15 horses Pletcher has entered on the Pegasus Day program are Chop Chop, Whatlovelookslike and Gilded Edge in the $165,000 La Prevoyante (G3) presented by Stella Artois; Upstanding in the $165,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) presented by Ketel One Vodka; and Capture the Flag in the $215,000 William L. McKnight (G3) presented by Visit Lauderdale.

Connections Hoping Third Time’s the Charm for ‘Skippy’ in Pegasus World Cup

After two unsatisfying performances in Gulfstream Park’s richest race, hard-knocking Skippylongstocking is back for another try Saturday in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1).

Daniel Alonso’s 6-year-old horse was seventh in 2023 and was pulled up and walked off a year ago. Nevertheless, he went on to have a very successful 2024 campaign keyed by three graded-stakes wins, and earned $1,498,800.

With his third start, Skippylongstocking will equal the record for Pegasus World Cup appearances with War Story and Seeking the Soul.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will saddle both White Abarrio, who drew Post 4, and Skippylongstocking, who will start from Post 10 with Tyler Gaffalione. In 28 career starts, the son of Exaggerator, has earned $3,092,985. Alonso purchased the horse for a modest $37,000 as a 2-year-old and he grew into a dependable stakes runner with nine career victories.

“He’s been an amazing horse for us and for our family,” Alonso said. “We’ve been able to travel all over the country to run in the biggest races in the country and are really enjoying it. Obviously, he hasn’t had the Grade 1 success that we’d like, [but has] three thirds in Grade 1s. We’re still hoping for that elusive win.”

The Pegasus World Cup will be Skippylongstocking’s first start since he finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

“The horse has been super healthy and just a great horse,” Alonso said. “We’re just hoping he shows up. The last two years we haven’t had a lot of luck here at the Pegasus.”

A year ago, Skippylongstocking started from the far outside in a field of 12, a difficult post for a speedy horse that is most effective when he is on or close to the lead. He managed to get near the pace early on, but pretty quickly dropped out of contention. Alonso said he did not come out of the race with any injuries or issues.

“It might have been overheating or just a little dehydrated, kind of all that effort to get from the 12 to cut across,” Alonso said. “We really used him a lot. I guess he wasn’t used to that type of effort. We don’t push him that hard typically, kind of [let him] settle down and run his race. I think we had to use him a little more than we’d like, and he just said he didn’t want to run anymore. He’d had enough. We were concerned, but he came back and won the Challenger at Tampa a month later. So, he was fine.”

Alonso’s horse with the distinctive name developed into the leading earner in Joseph’s career.

“He’s been our hard-knocking consistent horse, and exceeded every expectation,” Joseph said. “Even when we didn’t have Abarrio, at that time he held down the fort for us. He kept us together. He kept us whole, so we owe him everything.”

In the Dirt Mile, Skippylongstocking again drew the outside, starting from Post 13.

“I thought the Breeders’ Cup was so good. It was such a good run,” Joseph said. “He tried his butt off from a bad, bad post. He’s coming into the race well. Skippy’s been knocking on the door. He’s going to break through in one of these Grade 1s soon. It’s only a matter of time. Maybe Pegasus Day might be the day for him.”

Led by Integration, McGaughey has Three of a Kind for Pegasus Turf

Integration is back for another start in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) presented by Qatar Racing Saturday at Gulfstream Park and his connections are optimistic that he is ready to secure his first Grade 1 victory.

A year ago, the Quality Road horse ended up a close fifth as the unbeaten 6-5 favorite. He arrives at this year’s Turf from a victory in the Red Smith (G2) Nov. 9 at Aqueduct that capped a solid campaign in which he earned $668,300.

“It’s been a fast year. He had a couple starts and stops,” said West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley. He’s obviously at the upper end of the turf older males, but we just didn’t get lucky. There’s some very nice horses in the division, and the days that we ran, we just weren’t good enough.”

Integration, co-owned by West Point, Woodford Racing, Pine Racing Stables, William T. Freeman, Michael Valdes and John A. Ballantyne is one of the three horses Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will saddle in the Turf. Integration drew Post 5 and will be ridden by Frankie Dettori. McGaughey also has Battle of Normandy, co-owned by West Point and Woodford, who drew Post 10 and Magic Cap Stable’s Fort Washington, who drew into the field from the also-eligible list.

McGaughey said the Pegasus Turf has been part of the plan for the early part of Integration’s 2025 season. He will face Godolphin’s Nations Pride, who he finished second to in the Arlington Million (G1) on Aug. 11.

“I think he’s done well,” McGaughey said. “The Pegasus last year was kind of a last-minute thing. I had planned to give him some time off and run him at Keeneland and we decided to run here for the money. He didn’t get the best of trips. Tyler [Gaffalione] rode him. He had him down inside and just couldn’t get him out when he wanted to. I think with all the trouble he was in, it was a credible race.”

Integration returned to the races in April with a third in the Makers Mark Mile (G1) at Keneeland, followed by a fourth – missing third by a nose – in the Turf Classic (G1) on the Kentucky Derby (G1) program.

“We got unlucky when we went to Kentucky and we caught soft turf which he doesn’t really like,” McGaughey said. “Then we caught it again at Churchill and then I just sort of backed off. I thought his race, the first stake he won at Colonial [Downs, the Million Preview], he ran good. I thought he ran a good race in the Arlington Million. With a little luck, maybe we’d have been a little closer. We ran second to the favorite here at 8-5. I think we can possibly turn the tables on him.”

Finley said that the Red Smith win may show that Integration is ready to step to the top of the division.

“We were very impressed with that race at Aqueduct, his last race,” Finley said. “We’re hoping that, overall, he’s put it together. He’s had a good break. It’s been over two months. He’s been up at up at Payson [Park], and he’s worked really well with our other colt. They’re both doing very well. I’m not sure that Shug could pick the one that thinks is going to run better. I think they both will run well.”

McGaughey added blinkers to Battle of Normandy’s equipment to start his 2024 season. After finishing last of nine in a race washed off the turf, the City of Light horse, racing more forwardly, has swept four straight. He completed his campaign with a score in the River City (G3) Nov. 9 at Churchill Downs.

“I kind of piddled with him and just kind of got him in a good pattern,” McGaughey said. “He’s won four in a row. He ran really good in Louisville and he’s had a really good winter at Payson Park. He had a terrific work [Sunday] morning. What that means, who knows? I think if he settles in the right way, I think he’ll have a good chance.”

Fort Washington finished second by a neck to Turf rival Major Dude in the Fort Lauderdale (G2) Dec. 21. It completed a season in which won the Monmouth Stakes (G3) and was third in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga and the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct.

Earlier in the afternoon, McGaughey will saddle Stuart Janney’s Limited Liability in the William L. McKnight (G3) presented by Visit Fort Lauderdale. Limited Liability finished 2024 with four top-three performances. That sequence started with a third in the Belmont Gold Cup (G3) at Saratoga, a second in the Cape Henlopen at Delaware Park, an 8 ¼-length victory in the 2 1/16-mile Nashville Gold Cup at Kentucky Downs and a second in the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith.

“His races have been good,” McGaughey said. “His race at Kentucky Downs was a really good race, and his race at Saratoga was a good race. He was in some pretty tough competition and then he came back and ran second in the Red Smith. He tried hard, ran hard in sort of a paceless race. I was very pleased with the way he ran.”

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