Accelerate to be 9-5 on Pegasus morning line
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Accelerate was expected to be listed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite followed by City of Light as the 5-2 second choice for the third running of the $9 million Pegasus World Cup on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Entries were to be taken on Tuesday.
Gulfstream oddsmaker Jay Stone said he intended to have Gunnevera as the 8-1 third choice behind the two favorites for the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, which anchors a sensational 12-race Saturday card that will start at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Next on the morning line were expected to be Audible and Patternrecognition, both at 10-1, followed by Bravazo and Seeking the Soul at 12-1 and all others at 20-1 or higher.
Accelerate (Classic) and City of Light (Dirt Mile) both are coming off Breeders’ Cup victories and will be making their final career starts before heading to stud duty at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky. Accelerate was scheduled to arrive here Tuesday following a flight that was to originate in Southern California before stopping in New Orleans to pick up Seeking the Soul, Tom’s d’Etat, and other starters for Pegasus Day.
In alphabetical order and with jockeys, this is the Pegasus field:
Accelerate, Joel Rosario; Audible, Flavien Prat; Bravazo, Luis Saez; City of Light, Javier Castellano; Gunnevera, Irad Ortiz Jr.; Imperative, Tyler Gaffalione; Kukulkan, Frankie Dettori; Patternrecognition, Jose Ortiz; Seeking the Soul, John Velazquez; Something Awesome, Edgar Prado; Tom’s d’Etat, Shaun Bridgmohan; and True Timber, Joe Bravo.
Patternrecognition, a front-running winner of the Kelso Mile and Cigar Mile in his last two starts, has finished first or second in 10 of 11 career outs.
“He seems to be peaking and it’s the right time for us to really take a big swing at a huge purse,” said Chad Brown, who on Thursday night at Gulfstream was expected to receive his third straight Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer.
Meanwhile, the prospective lineup for the inaugural running of the $7 million Pegasus Turf World Cup was still three short of the 12-horse maximum as of Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours before entry time. With Dubby Dubbie a probable 10th starter, these were the nine confirmed starters: Aerolithe, Bricks and Mortar, Catapult, Channel Maker, Delta Prince, Fahan Mura, Magic Wand, Next Shares, and Yoshida.
Stone said he will make Yoshida a clear-cut favorite, followed by Catapult, Magic Wand, Bricks and Mortar, Aerolithe.
