Pegasus: Flavien Prat to Ride Audible in $9 Million Pegasus World Cup (G1)

By David Joseph —-

Flavien Prat to Ride Audible in $9 Million Pegasus World Cup (G1)

Something Awesome Puts in Second Local Work for Pegasus (G1)

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Flavien Prat, a leading rider on the Southern California circuit, will be aboard 2018 Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), the richest race in North America, Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park.

Audible’s trainer, Todd Pletcher, confirmed the mount Sunday afternoon after speaking with Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm, which co-owns the 4-year-old colt with China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners and Starlight Racing.

Prat, 26, moved from his native France to Southern California full-time at the end of 2014 and has won riding titles at Santa Anita and Del Mar. He owns two career Breeders’ Cup victories, including Battle of Midway for WinStar in the 2017 Dirt Mile (G1). Earlier that year, Battle of Midway ran third in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

“Just in talking to the connections, and I talked to Elliot a little while ago, we had discussed Flavien,” Pletcher said. “We had success with him, winning the Breeders’ Cup with him on Battle of Midway. We thought he’d be a good fit, so we decided to go with him.”

Audible has been ridden by Hall of Famers Javier Castellano and John Velazquez in his eighth-race career. Velazquez was aboard for both his maiden win and the Florida Derby, while Castellano has been up for three victories including the Holy Bull (G2) and Cherokee Run Stakes last year.

Velazquez has the call on 2017 Clark Handicap (G1) winner Seeking the Soul in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, while Castellano is named on 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner City of Light.

“[Audible has] had success with both Johnny and Javier,” Pletcher said. “Flavien seems to be riding in really good form. We thought he’d fit him well.”

Pletcher said Audible exited Saturday’s five-furlong breeze in 1:00.98 at Palm Beach Downs in good order. It was his third work since finishing second by a half-length as the favorite in the Harlan’s Holiday (G3) Dec. 15.

“All systems go,” Pletcher said.

Something Awesome Puts in Second Local Work for Pegasus (G1)

Stronach Stables’ homebred multiple stakes winner Something Awesome continued preparation for the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series with a work over Gulfstream Park’s main track Sunday morning.

The millionaire graded-stakes winner breezed five furlongs in 1:02.33 under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, his regular rider who has a return call for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) – North America’s richest race – Jan. 26.

It was the second local work for Something Awesome, an 8-year-old Awesome Again gelding that was clocked in 1:42.62 for one mile Jan. 5. The horse shipped from trainer Jose Corrales’ home base at Laurel Park in Maryland Christmas Day.

“I liked his work. He worked very steady, the way I expected,” Corrales said Sunday. “I feel like the horse really already acclimatized into this weather. When we first came here, not even fast galloping he’d come back blowing so hard, and now he goes all the way around no problem and finishes like I want him to.”

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.

Prado was also aboard as Unbridled Juan for Corrales, who breezed five furlongs in 1:03.15. The 7-year-old Unbridled’s Song gelding went the same distance in 1:04.44 Jan. 5 in his first local work. Winner of the Richard W. Small Stakes at Laurel and Grover ‘Buddy’ Delp Memorial Stakes in his last two starts, Unbridled Juan finished second in the 2018 Dixie (G3) and third in the 2017 Eclipse (G2).

Unbridled Juan has seven wins and $505,323 in purse earnings from 26 career starts. In his lone career 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.

“Unbridled worked normal for him. They’re both not great work horses but as long as they finish OK and get around there evenly, that’s most important. He came back and cool out right away,” Corrales said. “I know he’s 6 years old but I think he’s now at the peak of where he can be, where he could have been when he was 4 years old but he had his issues. The horse in the morning you really can tell he’s doing well.”

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.