National Treasure emerges from speed duel to win Pegasus

Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Bettors hoping National Treasure would get sucked into an early speed duel Saturday in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational got that part of their wish. If they were hoping it would tire out the only previous Grade 1 winner in the $3 million race, their dashed hopes were represented by worthless tickets left on the ground at Gulfstream Park.

Flavien Prat took post-time favorite National Treasure (5-2) forward into that pace battle with Hoist the Gold (9-1) before he flexed his class on the way to a half-length triumph over late-closing Señor Buscador (8-1) for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

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“I knew there was going to be a hot pace, and Prat and I talked about it,” three-time Pegasus winner Baffert told the Gulfstream media team by phone from California. “You can’t take his speed away. You can’t be worried about one horse. Just let him do his thing, and he did. That’s why he won.”

Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, who did the road work for Baffert this week, gave all the credit to Prat and mentioned something else that might have been pivotal for the 4-year-old Quality Road colt who won last year’s Preakness.

“He got plenty of instructions today,” Barnes said. “When we finally gave him a leg up, I said, ‘Just get him out of the gate and put him in the race.’ He was able to give him a breather down the backside.”

That breather translated into letting Hoist the Gold take the lead through the middle of the 1 1/8-mile race. After setting early fractions of 23.18, 46.32 and 1:11.21, the 5-year-old gelding trained by Dallas Stewart and ridden by John Velázquez could not keep up.

“It was great. He had a great trip,” Stewart said. “Johnny rode him great. He relaxed, 46 and change, no issues. Everything was good, we just got outrun. It was a good race.”

By the time they turned for home, National Treasure assumed command through a mile in 1:37.07. The race was not over yet, though, because Señor Buscador was coming. The 6-year-old horse ridden by Júnior Alvarado powered into contention from the back of the pack.

“It’s very hard to come from way back on this track, but I was happy when he was picking it up, and I’m excited,” Alvarado said. “But I could feel the last sixteenth of a mile, he was getting tired from making that huge run from the back. My horse ran his eyeballs out.”

Barnes said he was not worried.

“(Señor Buscador) was moving, but he was still struggling to move from what I could see,” he said. “Really, when they turned for home, I was pretty comfortable the whole way through the stretch. I got a little nervous at the end there when they were still coming, but he’s a gutty little horse.”

Racing into a headwind in the homestretch on a main track baked fast in 78-degree sunshine, National Treasure won with a time of 1:50.51, the slowest in the race since the 1:50.96 turned in by Albertus Maximus in winning the 2009 Donn Handicap (G1), the predecessor to the Pegasus.

Breaking from post 7, National Treasure flashed past the stands in the lead before Hoist the Gold moved ahead of him into the clubhouse turn. They never were more than a length apart at any call before the far turn.

As Hoist the Gold retreated before turning for home, Señor Buscador came charging from next to last in the field of 12. By the stretch call, he was within 2 1/2 lengths of National Treasure and coming. He simply did not have enough left to win.

With Frankie Dettori up, Crupi (34-1) also made a big rally late, going from worst to third, 4 3/4 lengths behind National Treasure. It was another 6 1/4 lengths back to fourth-place Hoist the Gold and one more length to fifth-place O’Connor (10-1).

Il Miracolo (33-1), Dynamic One (11-1), Nimitz Class (26-1), second betting choice First Mission (5-2), Trademark (20-1) and Grand Aspen (14-1) came in sixth through 11th in that order.

Skippylongstocking (8-1), who broke from post 12, was pulled up by Tyler Gaffalione moving into the second turn and walked off with what Daily Racing Form’s David Grening reported was a concern about his fatigue and the possibility the warm day got to him. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sent a text message saying, “He’s good to go,” followed by a prayer emoji.

National Treasure returned $7.20, $5.40 and $3.80; Señor Buscador $7.20 and $5.20; and Crupi $12.60.

What is next for National Treasure remains to be seen. None of the connections was making any commitments.

“Bob has taken us to places that we probably didn’t feel we could arrive,” said Tom Ryan of lead owner SF Racing. “This horse, what he did today, sitting off a horse, showed a new dimension. He’s going to be a very nice 4-year-old.”