Pegasus World Cup: Eragon adds International Intrigue
With a spot in the Pegasus World Cup already bought and paid for, and with Runhappy, the horse originally pointed for the affair, off to retirement, James McIngvale wanted no part in selling his investment. He wanted a horse that could compete.
Go ahead. Try to find a horse with the credentials to run against the likes of California Chrome and Arrogate in the world’s first $12 million race. Oh, and the horse must absolutely, positively be drug free -- Not even Lasix. Such was the task put forth for Team McIngvale.
Already well known in Argentina, American racing audiences, I present to you … Eragon.
“Out of all the horses we looked at down there, we liked him the best,” says trainer Laura Wohlers about their new stable star. “He’s not a real big horse, but he’s well put together. He’s the best specimen we saw.”
Not content with what the American market had available, as far as top quality horses running Lasix free, McIngvale turned their search to the Southern Hemisphere. More specifically, their quest to find a viable candidate for the Pegasus World Cup led them to Argentina. The top racing nation in South America had several candidates, but Eragon was the horse they wanted, and they got him.
So just who is Eragon? Bred in Argentina, he’s a five-year-old son of Offlee Wild, out of the Shy Tom mare, Express Time. Foaled in the Southern Hemisphere, he was born August 27, 2011. The bay horse has run 20 lifetime races, and has won 10 times. His first Group 1 win came just 12 months ago. Since then he’s added a few more Group 1 wins, and he’s done it on both turf and dirt. Most recently, he closed like a freight train in the Group 1 Gran Premio Hipodromo De Palermo.
That win came a little more than a month ago, against a nine-horse field. The horse he beat that day, Le Ken, is also one of Argentina’s top horses, and the winner of another Group 1 race since. This win for Eragon came at a mile, which is the most common distance in his past performances. He carried 132 pounds that day, and in fact, has carried more than 130 pounds in each of his last seven starts. Most importantly to the philosophy of his new stable, he ran Lasix free. Lasix is frowned upon in Argentina, which made fertile ground for the McIngvale search.
“It was a pretty fast race,” remarked Wohlers. “He has enough tactical speed to run with American horses, but he likes to close.” When asked about the prospect of running against the big boys, Wohlers said, “It’s going to be a tough race, but I think he may run a good one. He’ll need to acclimate himself to Gulfstream.”
Eragon is already in the United States, accompanied by his groom, Cordell Anderson. Anderson spent some time with the horse in Argentina to learn about his environment, so that they can keep things as normal for Eragon as possible in his new home. He’s due in at Gulfstream on Monday, and one thing they already have planned for him is to leave the lights on.
“I am not really concerned about the heat,” explained Wohlers while discussing his acclimation from the summer of Argentina to the winter of Florida. “It’s the length of day that will be the biggest adjustment.” To combat this, the lights will be kept on during the evening hours to simulate the longer days of December and January in Argentina.
As far as his training, he had a couple of breezes before flying to the U.S., and his first American breeze will be scheduled for next week, if all goes well. Gulfstream has a much shorter stretch than Eragon is accustomed to in Argentina, so Wohlers wants to get in a race over the track before the big one on January 28. The tentative plan is to run in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope on January 14.
With that prep in the forecast, we should learn plenty more about the smallish South American. Will he have success such as Candy Ride did more than a decade ago, or will he be overmatched against America’s best in the Pegasus World Cup? We will find out soon enough, but for now, let’s take one more look at the mystery horse from Argentina.