Pegasus World Cup: Multi-Stakes Undercard
The Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup, starring California Chrome and Arrogate, will be held Jan. 28, and Gulfstream Park will host six other stakes on the Pegasus undercard: the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight, the Grade 2 La Prevoyante, the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie, the Poseidon, the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, and the Ladies’ Turf Sprint.
Like the Pegasus, the Poseidon will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt and showcases older horses. The strong contingent of nominees is led by Hoppertunity, the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, and Stanford, who took the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic and Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday. Hoppertunity’s stablemate Mor Spirit, winner of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity and Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis, could join him, and Cherry Wine, whose best finish has been seventh since his Grade 1 Preakness runner-up effort, could also make his 2017 debut in the Poseidon. Tamarac winner Zulu rounds out the nominees.
The W.L. McKnight features four-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on the turf. Charming Kitten, the defending champ, is among the nominees, as are stablemates Bigger Picture, winner of the Grade 3 Red Smith Handicap, and Oscar Nominated, who won the Grade 3 Spiral and Dueling Grounds Derby. Grade 1 winning veteran Twilight Eclipse, who won the 2012 edition of the W.L. McKnight, is also nominated.
Olorda leads the La Prevoyante nominations, a 1 1/2 miles turf race for fillies and mares four-years-old and up. Not racing since April, Olorda enters off victories in the Grade 3 The Very One and the Grade 3 Bewitch. Suffused, winner of the Grade 3 Glen Falls and runner up in the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor last out, also highlights the nominations.
Also for fillies and mares four-years-old and up is the Hurricane Bertie, run at seven furlongs on the dirt. Stablemates Clipthecouponannie and Eskenformoney both won last time out. Lightly raced Clipthecouponannie is a perfect four-for-four, looking for a graded stakes win, and Eskenformoney scored her first stakes victory in the Grade 3 Rampart. Also nominated is Grade 3 Sugar Swirl winner Dearest, who also finished second in the Grade 2 Prioress.
2015 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint champion Mongolian Saturday is among the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint nominees, run at five furlongs. Last year’s winner Power Alert is another strong contender on the list, as well as two-times stakes winner Manhattan Dan.
Nominations for the Ladies’ Turf Sprint, the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint’s counterpart, include multiple stake winners Richies Sweetheart and Ruby Notion.
By Christine Oser