Newgrange under Victor Espinoza beats Baffert trainee of Newgate by a length in the GII San Pasqual at Santa Anita Jan. 27, 2024. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Pegasus Undercard Graded-Stakes Draw 103 Nominations
• Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Estimated at $225,000
• Tuscan Gold, Malarchuk Launching Comebacks Thursday
Gulfstream Today
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Rockingham Ranch, David Bernsen and Little Red Feather Racing’s 5-year-old millionaire Newgrange, a five-time graded-stakes winner, has been elevated to the main dozen horses on the final invitation list for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.
The 1 1/8-mile Pegasus for 4-year-olds and up is the headliner on a blockbuster program featuring 10 stakes, seven graded, worth $5.55 million in purses including the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) and $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G2).
Post time for the first of 13 races on Pegasus Day will be 11 a.m. EST. Among the estimated pools on the program are $1.25 million in the Early Pick 5 (Races 1-5), $2.5 million in the Late Pick 5 (Races 9-13) and $1.5 million in the Late Pick 4 (Races 10-13). There will be a mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 Sunday, Jan. 26.
Newgrange owns seven wins, four thirds and $1.014 million in purse earnings from 15 lifetime starts and has gone unraced since finishing fifth in the 1 1/16-mile San Diego Handicap (G2) last July at Del Mar. Previously based in southern California with trainer Phil D’Amato, his most recent graded triumphs came in the 2023 San Antonio (G2) and 2024 San Pasqual (G2) at Santa Anita.
By Violence, Newgrange has breezed once in South Florida for trainer Jose D’Angelo, going four furlongs in 47 seconds Jan. 8 at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. It was the fastest of 36 works at the distance.
Newgrange takes the place of Skinner, last out winner of the 1 1/8-mile Native Diver (G3) Nov. 23, who is being pointed to make his season debut Saturday at Fair Grounds. The remaining top 11 horses remain unchanged – Crupi, Imagination, Locked, Mixto, Mystik Dan, Power Squeeze, Saudi Crown, Senor Buscador, Skippylongstocking, Stronghold and White Abarrio.
The Pegasus Turf saw Chasing the Crown, Running Bee and Spirit of St Louis elevated from reserves to the main list of 12 following the defections of Get Smokin, Johannes and Redistricting. Chasing the Crown, unraced since an optional claiming allowance win Nov. 7, is trained by Mike Maker, who won the Pegasus Turf with Zulu Alpha (2020) and Atone (2023).
Running Bee and Spirit of St Louis are Chad Brown-trained stablemates of Redistricting. Running Bee is a three-time stakes winner including the 2024 Monmouth (G3) that has placed in two other graded-stakes. Spirit of St Louis has been first or second in 12 of 13 starts, nine of them wins, five in stakes against fellow New York-breds.
In the Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf, Prerequisite was moved to the list of alternates and replaced by previous reserve See You Around, a neck winner of the 1 1/6-mile Tropical Park Oaks Dec. 14 at Gulfstream.
The post-position draw for all three Pegasus World Cup races will be held Sunday at Gulfstream’s Carousel Club. The Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf will be drawn following Race 2, Pegasus Turf after Race 3 and Pegasus World Cup following Race 4.
Pegasus Undercard Graded-Stakes Draw 103 Nominations
Four graded-stakes on the Pegasus World Cup Day undercard Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park drew a total of 103 nominations.
Leading the way with 36 nominees is the $165,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the main track. Among them are defending champion Tumbarumba, under consideration for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1); Rocket Can, last out winner of the Harlan’s Holiday (G3) Dec. 21; millionaire First Mission, ninth in last year’s Pegasus; Grade 2 winner Anarchist, and Mufasa, upset winner over White Abarrio in the Dec. 28 Mr. Prospector (G3).
AMO Racing USA’s Olivia Darling, comeback winner of a Nov. 24 allowance at Gulfstream, is nominated to make a title defense in the $215,000 Inside Information (G2) for fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs. Multiple graded-stakes winner Emery, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) runner-up Jody’s Pride and Windy Walk, who extended her win streak to four in the Dec. 26 Rampart over Eclipse Award finalist Soul of an Angel, are also nominated.
Grade 3 winner Anglophile; Bold Act, a graded-stakes winner in the U.S. and Dubai; and nine-time winner Harrow are being pointed to the $215,000 William L. McKnight (G3). Scheduled for 1 ½ miles on the grass, its 29 nominees also include the top three finishers from Gulfstream’s two-mile H. Allen Jerkens – Lord Eddard Stark, Prevent and Six Minus – and Peruvian Group 1-placed Malcolm X.
Eighteen fillies and mares were nominated to the $165,000 La Prevoyante (G3), also scheduled for 1 ½ miles on the turf, including Grade 3 winners Beautiful Love, Chop Chop and La Mehana, Argentinian Group 1 winner Ballado’s Beach,
Also scheduled to run are the $165,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, where stakes winners Coppola, Xy Speed and Yes I Am Free are among 28 nominees; $100,000 Carousel Club and $100,000 South Beach overnight handicaps and $70,000 Mucho Gusto Starter Handicap, each on the all-weather Tapeta course.
Thursday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $225,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have an estimated pool of $225,000 when racing resumes Thursday at Gulfstream Park.
Thursday’s sequence spans Races 4-9, starting with a 5 ½-furlong claiming sprint on the all-weather Tapeta for 4-year-olds and up. Warlord Cruzan, second and third in a pair of similar spots in December, is rated the narrow 5-2 morning-line favorite.
The Race 8 feature is an optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the main track that marks the return of Chad Brown-trained stablemates Tuscan Gold and Malarchuk, promising sophomores that have gone unraced since last spring. Richard Schemerhorn, Jeff Drown and Mike Ryan’s Malarchuk ran once last year, a 9 ¼-length maiden triumph over older horses April 11 at Aqueduct, before being sidelined with a lung infection.
William Lawrence, Walmac Farm and Stonestreet Stables’ Tuscan Gold made three starts at 3, going from a third in the Louisiana Derby (G3) to the Preakness Stakes (G1) in just his fourth race. In the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown he was bumped in a tight start, raced near the back and finished fourth.
Malarchuk and Tuscan Gold have been regulars on the work tab since mid-November at Payson Park, most recently going a half-mile together in 49.20 seconds Jan. 6 ranking seventh-fastest of 61 horses. Tuscan Gold (2-1) drew Post 1 with Tyler Gaffalione up while Malarchuk will break from Post 6 of seven with Dylan Davis.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Who’s Hot ~ ~ ~
Jockey Luis Saez doubled Wednesday aboard New York New York ($7.60) in Race 3 and Beastly Speed ($8.60) in Race 8 …
TAG Stables’ Spirited Boss ($3.40), a homebred daughter of Street Boss, cruised to a popular 5 ½-length front-running triumph in Race 6, a maiden special weight for Florida-bred 3-year-old fillies. The winning time for 5 ½ furlongs on the all-weather Tapeta was 1:03.16.
