Pegasus World Cup attracts strong supporting undercard cast

Gulfstream Park's Jan. 25 card led by the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) will offer nine stakes in all, six of them graded, worth $5.2 million in purses.

Judging from the nomination lists for the undercard stakes, a solid supporting cast will show up before the features run.

The $200,000 Inside Information (G2), a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, attracted 22 nominations, including Spiced Perfection, a multiple Grade 1 stakes-winning 5-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger. Trained by Peter Miller, Spiced Perfection, who captured the 2018 La Brea (G1) at Santa Anita and the 2019 Madison (G1) at Keeneland, is coming off a front-running victory in the Dec. 7 Go For Wand (G3) at Aqueduct. Pink Sands, who rallied from 10th to win the Dec. 14 Rampart (G3) at Gulfstream is also nominated for the 42nd running of the Inside Information.

The $150,000 Fred W. Hooper drew 28 nominations for the 34th running of the mile stakes for older horses, including Pegasus World Cup invitees Mucho Gusto, Diamond Oops and Bodexpress. Peter Miller-trained Gray Magician, who finished second in the UAE Derby (G2) and the Indiana Derby (G2) last year, is among a strong list of nominees that includes three Jason Servis-trained horses: Leitone, a Grade 1 winner in Chile who is coming off a triumph in the Claiming Crown Jewel; Sunny Ridge, a graded-stakes winner with $1.4 million in earnings; and Monongahela, the 2019 Iselin (G3) winner.

The $200,000 W. L. McKnight (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older horses that is a Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano qualifying race, drew 32 nominations, including Pegasus World Cup Turf invitees Arklow, Sadler’s Joy, Channel Cat, Admission Office and Zulu Alpha. Richard Baltas-trained Oscar Dominguez, the winner of the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) at Del Mar last time out, is prominent among the other nominees for the 52nd running of the McKnight.

The $200,000 La Prevoyante (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares, attracted 22 nominations, including multiple Group 2 stakes-placed Simply Beautiful, who is trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien. Other prominent nominees for the 50th running of the Le Prevoyante are Touriga, a Graham Motion-trained Group 1 winner in Brazil who closed to win the Via Borghese Dec. 28 at Gulfstream, and Lady Paname, a Chad Brown-trained French import who captured the Long Island (G3) at Aqueduct last time out.

The $150,000 World of Trouble Turf Sprint, a five-furlong turf dash for older horses, received 23 nominations, including Shckky Shebaz, the third-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) who won the Claiming Crown Canterbury at Gulfstream last time out; and Pay Any Price, the multiple-stakes winner who holds the track record for five furlongs on turf.

The $150,000 Ladies Turf Sprint, a five-furlong turf stakes for older fillies and mares, drew 27 nominations, including Jean Elizabeth, who won her fifth straight stakes in the Abundantia Stakes at Gulfstream Dec. 28,

The $150,000 South Beach, a 7 ½-furlong turf stakes for older fillies and mares, received 28 nominations, including Mitchell Road, a Bill Mott-trained graded-stakes winner who captured the Dec. 14 My Charmer Stakes at Gulfstream last time out.

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