Report: Maximum Security to bypass Pegasus World Cup
A purse cut to the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park has cost the race its biggest name.
Owner Gary West on Sunday told The Thoroughbred Daily News that Maximum Security, who's in the hunt for Champion Three-Year-Old Male honors, will bypass the Pegasus in favor of the $20 million Saudi Cup, an inaugural event scheduled for Feb. 29.
In 2019, the Pegasus carried a $9 million purse, with connections purchasing $500,000 slots to enter a horse. In 2020, the entry fee is gone, but so too is much of the money.
The Saudi Cup's existence played a part in the changes. The world's richest horse race is meant to open doors to Saudi Arabia, enticing horsemen with no entry fee for a lucrative purse.
“If a horse owner had a shot to win a $20-million race or a race for less than $3 million within a month, I am not sure why they would run for less," West told The TDN. "As of this minute, Max will not be running in the Pegasus and I can’t imagine anything that would change that decision.”
The Pegasus will also run medication-free, a measure taken by The Stronach Group, which also owns and operates Santa Anita Park, where significant steps toward equine welfare have been taken within the last year. The Saudi Cup does not allow horses to run on the anti-bleeding medication Lasix, common in the U.S., either.
To be run around one turn at 1 1/8 miles at Riyadh’s King Abdulaziz Racetrack, the Saudi Cup is also expected to include, among others, leading older horse McKinzie, top filly Midnight Bisou and Grade 1-placed members of Maximum Security's crop, Mucho Gusto and Tacitus.
If Maximum Security's already overseas, the Jason Servis trainee could remain there as well for the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 28.
A homebred son of New Year's day campaigned by West and his wife, Mary, Maximum Security has been beaten to the wire just once in nine career starts. The colt recently concluded his 2019 campaign by going gate to wire in Aqueduct's Cigar Mile (G1).