Pegasus News & Notes: Nimitz Class to Debut for Connections in $3M Pegasus World Cup (G1)

By David Joseph —-

Pegasus World Cup 2024 Presented by Baccarat

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Nimitz Class, purchased privately after winning six stakes at three different tracks in the Mid-Atlantic, will debut for his new connections in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) presented by Baccarat Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

A 5-year-old Munnings gelding bred in Pennsylvania by his former owner, Tom Coulter, Nimitz Class was acquired last fall by the partnership of Qatar Racing, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Steve Adkisson and Campeche Stables and transferred to trainer George Weaver.

Black Type is headed by Jake Ballis and his friend and former basketball teammate, retired NBA forward Rashard Lewis, who played for Seattle, Washington, Orlando and Miami, winning an NBA title with the Heat in 2013.

“Jake Ballis put it together,” Weaver said. “Jake had his eye on the horse. Anytime you try to make a deal buying a horse, there’s some negotiations and figuring stuff out. He was able to get a deal that both parties were happy with, so now we have a horse in the Pegasus from the one-hole. Let’s see what happens.”

Nimitz Class was the last horse in the 12-horse Pegasus field, added off the also-eligible list on entry day following the defection of Ny Traffic. He drew the rail and will be ridden for the first time by Edgard Zayas.

“He seems like a classy horse. He’s pretty easy to be around. He goes out there and does his job. We’re very happy to have him,” Weaver said. “The horse runs fast numbers. He’s been doing it on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, so this is a little bit of a different venue for him, but he’s got good enough numbers it’s not going to surprise me if he’s a part of it at the end.”

Nimitz Class owns 11 career wins, including the 1 1/16-mile Robert T. Manfuso and John B. Campbell, one-mile Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial and 1 1/8-mile Native Dancer in succession at Laurel Park over the winter and spring of 2022-23. He also won the six-furlong Danzig against state-breds in 2022 at Penn National and Parx Dirt Mile last fall, the latter by 1 ¾ lengths over Grade 1-winning multimillionaire Gunite.

His first breeze for Weaver came Dec. 30 at Palm Beach Downs, going four furlongs in 50.37 seconds, his first timed work since mid-November. He has breezed twice since, most recently going a half-mile in 52.10 seconds Jan. 20.

“We’ve worked him in company,” Weaver said. “He’s not like some kind of run-off work horse; he just does what you ask him. Every time I’ve worked him, he’s been right there and done things the right way.”

Weaver is hoping that Zayas, one of Gulfstream’s top year-round riders, will be able to work out a good trip from Post 1 on Nimitz Class, a winner of $717,080 in purse earnings that is rated at 20-1 on the morning line.

“I think when you’re going two turns at Gulfstream it’s not that far to the [first] turn, so you’re better off being inside than outside,” Weaver said. “I imagine we’re going to ask the horse for some position. I don’t think he’s got the kind of speed that’s going to put him on the front end, but we’re going to ask him to find a nice spot going into the first turn and after that it’s going to be up to the jock and the horse to get it done.”

A former assistant to Hall of Fame trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher, Weaver has never started a horse in the Pegasus World Cup. He is no stranger to the big stage, however, last summer joining Wesley Ward as the only U.S.-based trainers to win at Royal Ascot with Crimson Advocate in the Queen Mary (G2). Crimson Advocate earned an automatic bid with her victory in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream.

“We’ve been training horses for more than 20 years on my own with a lot of experience with Todd and Wayne beforehand,” Weaver said. “Running in these big races and having horses that are capable of performing in them, it’s just a dream come true to get a chance to run in them let alone have a chance to win them.

“We’re excited,” he added. “We like to have nice horses and it’s important for your business for people to know that you can get horses there and that you can win them. It’s very easy for people to think that you don’t know what to do with that caliber of horse if you don’t perform well in those spots. We love all our horses, but it’s obviously nice to have talented horses that can participate in big races like this.”

Atone Making Title Defense in $1M Pegasus Turf (G1)

It was already a good day for trainer Mike Maker and his team before Three Diamonds Farm’s Atone rallied for a three-quarter-length victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) last January at Gulfstream Park.

Earlier on the program, they saw Endorsed win the Fred Hooper (G3) on the main track and ran 1-2-3 with Red Knight, Value Engineering and Wicked Fast in the William L. McKnight (G3) on the grass. Oh, and Temple also ran fifth.

“[Pegasus] is a great day, it really is. Especially last year,” Maker’s assistant trainer Nolan Ramsey said. “We had a great day overall and then to cap it off in a race like the Pegasus Turf, that’s one you’ll never forget. Obviously, it’s a very big race that attracts some very, very nice horses. To show up and be able to win a race like that really speaks to the volume of your horse.”

Entering his 7-year-old season, Atone is getting the chance to defend his title in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus Turf and join Colonel Liam (2021, 2022) as a repeat winner. No other horse in either the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1), which launched in 2017, or $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G2), through its first two runnings, has won a second Pegasus race.

“He’s a class act. He shows up it seems like every race. He’s always there for you. Very straightforward horse to train,” Ramsey said. “He tells you when he’s having a good day, and he’ll tell you when he’s having a bad one, so he definitely makes our job easy. To have a horse like that that’s able to travel the way he does and then show up everywhere he goes, it’s very special.”

This will be the third Pegasus Turf for Atone, who was fourth to Colonel Liam in 2022, beaten less than two lengths at odds of 9-1. He went off at 7-2 last year under Irad Ortiz Jr.., who has won the race three straight years and four of the last five. With Ortiz committed on I’m Very Busy for trainer Chad Brown this year, Paco Lopez gets the call on Atone.

“He seems like he’s best when he can sit off of it just a little bit. Last year’s race he was probably a little further back than what I would have liked him to be, but the way the race unfolded it worked out to his advantage and he got a great, clean trip,” Ramsey said. “We got very lucky. I’d like to see him be able to relax a little bit and have a target in front of him and make one run, just like he did last year.”

Atone tuned up for his title defense running third by a length as the favorite in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Dec. 2 at Gulfstream, one of the first races over its brand-new turf course. A winner of more than $1.3 million in purses from 29 starts, the 7-year-old gelding has yet to visit the winner’s circle since last year’s Pegasus Turf.

“The allowance prep probably was a little too short for him. Pace-wise, it didn’t work out for us. Personally, I thought the turf was playing to speed, especially right as it opened. It seems like now that they’ve got into it a little more it’s playing a little more fair,” Ramsey said. “But he came out of the race really well. He’s been training really, really well. He’s one of those horses that tells you when he’s ready to run. Physically he looks different the way he trains every day. He’s been forward in his training. He’s eating up and doing great. I’ve got no complaints with him.”

Ramsey said the South Florida scene appears to agree with Atone, who has raced at 12 different racetracks in seven states and Canada since making his debut in February 2020 at Gulfstream.

“He’s done well down here in the past. Even just watching him in the stall, he looks like a different horse down here. I think he really relishes the warmer temps and the environment a little better,” Ramsey said. “He can handle the distance. He can handle the turf. Maybe the competition will shape up a little different than last year, but we’ll see how that goes. He’s doing well and I’ve got confidence that he’ll show up for us.”

Team Maker’s Saturday contingent includes Anatolian in the $150,000 La Prevoyante (G3) and Value Engineering, Red Run, Starting Over, Catch that Party and Shawtyshawtyshawty in the McKnight before Atone caps what the stable hopes is another big day.

“It’s cool. It’s a great experience. Gulfstream does a great job with it. They put on a big show, so to be part of it is always fun,” Ramsey said. “But to be the center of attention, so to speak, always makes it a little more special. We enjoy it. We’ve been coming down here for years. This is one of the places I’d consider our home track, so to knock off a big one here is always special.”

Il Miracolo Chasing Sire’s Legacy in $3M Pegasus World Cup (G1)

Having watched Alexandres’ Il Miracolo end 2023 in the best form of his career, trainer Antonio Sano hopes the 4-year-old Gun Runner colt can keep the momentum going and follow in his father’s footsteps in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) presented by Baccarat at Gulfstream Park.

Gun Runner, the champion older male and Horse of the Year in 2017, was a popular 2 ½-length winner of the 2018 Pegasus World Cup in his career finale. Finishing third in that race was the Sano-trained Gunnevera, who would run sixth in 2019 and retire with three graded-stakes wins and more than $5.6 million in purse earnings.

This will be Sano’s fourth trip to the Pegasus. One of Venezuela’s most successful trainers before coming to the U.S. in 2009, the 61-year-old Sano also was 10th last year with Grade 2 winner Simplification.

“It’s going to be a tough race. All the horses have a chance,” Sano said. “Hopefully, my horse run well.”

Il Miracolo has not run since finishing third behind Pegasus World Cup rival Trademark, beaten 5 ½ lengths, in the 1 1/8-mile Clark (G2) at Churchill Downs. Prior to that, Il Miracolo was second by a head to another Pegasus contender, O’Connor, in Keeneland’s Fayette (G2) and third to Saudi Crown in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1).

First or second in five of nine career starts at Gulfstream, Il Miracolo earned graded status with a three-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones (G3) last August at Parx in his Pennsylvania Derby prep.

“The horse has been doing very well after the [last] race. Right now the horse is very excited and in good condition,” Sano said. “He worked two times with [jockey Javier] Castellano, and I hope to run well.”

Hall of Famer Castellano has the mount on Il Miracolo from Post 10 of 12, rated at odds of 20-1 on the morning line. Castellano won the Pegasus World Cup with City of Light in 2019 and was second with West Coast in 2018.

“I think there are four horses that show speed in the race,” Sano said. “I hope we can find room behind the speed for the horse to close.”

Leading Trainer Joseph Sends Out Two for Pegasus FM Turf (G2)

Encouraged by their performances in the Suwanee River (G3), trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered Accomplished Girl and Sister Lou Ann in the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational (G2) while acknowledging they must be even better Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Gentry Farm’s Accomplished Girl rallied to finish second to Full Count Felicia in the one-mile Suwannee River on the Gulfstream turf December 30. Ken Ramsey’s homebred Sister Lou Ann was the leader into deep stretch before yielding to be third.

Accomplished Girl, a daughter of Street Boss out of a Twirling Candy mare, was a sprinter for the first six races of her career last year. She snagged her first graded victory, the Presque Island Downs Masters (G2) at 6 ½ furlongs on Tapeta Sept 18, before Joseph gave her a break and brought her back in the Suwanee.

“It was her first time stretching out around two turns,” Joseph said. “She acted like she could do it, but until you do that you never know. This time it’s a bit further, a sixteenth further, and I think it’s within her reach.”

Accomplished Girl drew Post 3 in a full field of 12 for the Filly and Mare Turf. Regular rider Edgard Zayas will be up.

“We had trained her toward that and that’s the reason we stretched her out, because she acted so nicely and she has a nice turn of foot,” Joseph said. “She had to wait and go around and the winner got the run up the inside. That was probably the difference between winning and losing. I feel like she goes in there with a good chance. She’s going to need to improve again. This is a tougher race.”

Joseph said Zayas will have to play the race the way it unfolds with the speedy 4-year-old filly.

“We’re not going to take anything away,” he said. “If she found herself on the lead, I think it’s no problem, and if not and we can get a nice stalking trip that’s fine also.”

Sister Lou Ann has far more route experience than her stablemate. She typically uses her speed to be on or close to the lead, which is what she did in the Suwanee River.

“She needs to improve again. She’s a filly that tries,” Joseph said. “Last time, I thought we had her as good as we could. She got a quite easy lead, but the first two ran by her quite easily.”

The Suwanee outing was enough for Joseph to give Sister Lou Ann a try in the Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/16 miles, where she has two wins and a second in five starts. She will start from Post 10 under Paco Lopez.

“She doesn’t have the turn of foot as them so maybe the extra distance can help her, but she needs to improve again,” he said. “It’s possible she could improve. She’s doing as good as she can be.”

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