On massive race days my philosophy is to swing for the fences.
The Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream Park is the marquee day of racing within the winter months. With eight stakes amongst 13 races and no less than 9 horses entered for each race, it’s a fantastic day to search for horses with an opportunity to win at an enormous worth.
The $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes Introduced by SirDavis American Whisky drew a full subject of 12 fillies and mares plus two also-eligible entrants for the 1 1/16-mile turf race. The morning-line favourite #1 Raqiya is a lukewarm 4-1 alternative, adopted by #10 Sacred Want at 9-2 and #5 Fluffy Socks at 5-1, so on paper there isn’t a clear standout.
I merely went searching for worth and landed on a 20-1 longshot in #12 See You Round.
The surface submit is just not ultimate however in turf routes at Gulfstream, outdoors submit positions may be overcome. I feel jockey Oisin Murphy will discover a good stalking place coming into the primary flip in entrance of six or seven devoted closers.
See You Round enters off a win on this turf course within the Tropical Park Oaks at a mile on Dec. 14 when she blistered the last eighth of a mile in :11.16 and the ultimate quarter mile in :22.41 (see word beneath). This can be a step up in school in her third stateside begin for coach Christophe Clement, however she was overwhelmed by lower than two lengths within the 2024 French One Thousand Guineas — a traditional race in France — and appears like an bettering filly.
I additionally like #8 Papilio to outrun her 8-1 morning-line odds coming off a runner-up end to #3 Be Your Finest within the Grade 3 Suwanee River Stakes at one mile at Gulfstream Dec. 21 when she closed to complete second with a last eighth of a mile in :11.27. Likewise, I’m a fan of the quick and constant #10 Sacred Want coming off an enormous win within the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar. Sacred Want’s coach George Weaver and jockey John Velazquez have received at 29% collectively in 2024-’25 with an enormous return on funding ($4.14 ROI).
This can be a race the place you can also make a compelling case for many of the entrants, so why not take a shot on one which guarantees a good-looking reward? I’ll guess #12 See You Round in a $1 exacta with #8 Papilio and #10 Sacred Want and put the remaining $14 on See You Round to win. If I lose it is going to be a worthwhile $20 residence run swing.
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last eighth of a mile in :11.16 and the ultimate quarter mile in :22.41: North American grime races are sometimes run quick early and the racehorses decelerate late, whereas turf races like this one characteristic a gentle early gallop and the sector accelerating within the last levels. Search for horses with explosive acceleration in grass races in any respect distances, and particularly in races from a mile to a mile and 1 / 4. I search for horses who can run the ultimate furlong (eighth of a mile) in roughly 11 ½ seconds or much less and the ultimate quarter-mile in lower than 23 seconds.
