Weather forces Pegasus World Cup day scratches, changes

On an afternoon meant to pay out huge purses, horsemen could be seeing the wrong kind of green.

The radar paints a dim picture of Pegasus World Cup day at Gulfstream Park, where overnight rains left the dirt muddy and already multiple races off the turf.

According to Gulfstream racing analyst Jason Blewitt, Races 1, 3 and 5 at a minimum are switching to the main track. See full Gulfstream Park scratches and changes here throughout the day.

The third is the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, intended to be a Breeders' Cup rematch between the 1-2 finishers Stormy Liberal and World of Trouble. Only the latter may run, as he also has experience running and winning on the main track.

The first is a maiden special weight event and the fifth is the Ladies' Turf Sprint. In the stakes, Morticia, the tepid morning line favorite, is a definite scratch, per Blewitt.

Three more turf races are scheduled leading up to Race 11, the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1), which is almost assuredly going to stay on the grass. But to keep the course in good shape, other events could switch to dirt beforehand.

So far, there are no changes to the 12-horse Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) on dirt featuring Accelerate and City of Light. The favorite, Accelerate, is an experienced winner in the slop.

One other notable but expected scratch is in: that of Coal Front, the 9-5 morning line favorite in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) for older horses on dirt. Todd Pletcher has elected to keep Copper Town in the field.

The National Weather Service predicts a better than 80 percent chance of rain the rest of the day and into Sunday. It's a soggy way to ring in Gulfstream Park's biggest card of the Championship Meet, especially after a winter of picturesque conditions otherwise.