Tom Pedulla provides takeaways from Pegasus World Cup day at Gulfstream Park and the $1 million Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, each on Jan. 25. The Southwest awarded the highest 5 finishers Kentucky Derby qualifying factors on a 20-10-6-4-2 foundation.
BEST YET: Few individuals know White Abarrio in addition to Irad Ortiz Jr. He has been aboard for the 6-year-old son of Race Day’s final seven begins. He was within the irons when White Abarrio dominated the 2023 Whitney Stakes and adopted that with a one-length rating within the Longines Breeders’ Cup Basic. He additionally was helpless when his mount weakened badly to be tenth within the $20 million Saudi Cup final February. So the place does his 6 ¼-length rating – a document successful margin for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes – rank amongst his performances? “I feel [Saturday] was the perfect race ever. … To see him again, I’m completely happy for him. He’s a fighter,” stated Ortiz Jr.
OVER AT START: The start of the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus was all the time going to be important for favored Locked after he drew publish 11 in a full discipline of 12. That meant the break from the beginning gate was important if jockey John Velazquez was to hustle him into the highest flight of horses. When the 4-year-old son of Gun Runner had his head turned whereas the gate snapped open, Velazquez’s coronary heart sank. “For those who don’t break on this observe,” Velazquez stated, “you don’t have any likelihood.” Locked did effectively to come back on to snag second place in a race that prompt he’ll profit from higher distances.
SWEET RIDE: Coach Chad Brown didn’t hesitate to switch Tyler Gaffalione with Flavien Prat after Sierra Leone missed by a nostril to Mystik Dan in final yr’s Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve. However that didn’t imply the tip of his working relationship with one of many nation’s high younger riders as he continued to provide him alternatives. Gaffalione rewarded him when he guided Spirit of St Louis to a 1 ¼-length victory within the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes introduced by Qatar Racing. “Tyler’s simply been in the fitting spot at each pole in each race, at the very least for my horses,” Brown stated. “Simply phenomenal driving. He’s in profession kind.”
BENEFICIAL CHANGE: There isn’t a higher manner for a coach to thank an proprietor for a possibility than by successful a significant stakes race for her or him. Saffie Joseph Jr. did precisely that when Be Your Greatest, despatched to him by proprietor Mike Ryan final summer time, captured the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes introduced by SirDavis American Whisky. The 5-year-old mare has responded to Joseph’s coaching routine as Ryan hoped she would. She owns a three-race successful streak. “I thank Mike Ryan for giving her to us,” Joseph stated. “He’s been a giant supporter of me from very, very early.”
ON THE RISE: If the Southwest Stakes is any indication, runner-up Sandman is one to look at because the Derby prep races enhance in significance. He broke in a tangle, costing him a number of lengths. He then misplaced valuable floor when he went 4 vast across the first flip and 5 vast coming into the far flip. Nonetheless, the Tapit colt launched a decided late run that left him just one left in need of gate-to-wire winner Velocity King within the 1 1/16-mile contest, a state of affairs that bodes effectively for longer distances to come back. Sandman, skilled by Mark Casse, was bought for $1.2 million as a 2-year-old in coaching by West Level Thoroughbreds, D.J. Steady, and CJ Stables. Griffin Johnson, an influencer with greater than 14 million followers, is a minority shareholder in racehorse Sandman by way of West Level Thoroughbreds and America’s Greatest Racing’s “A Stake in Stardom” influencer possession initiative.
