Anothertwistafate goes for signature win in Pegasus World Cup Turf
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The first time Anothertwistafate appeared on the national racing stage, he bombed. The second time might be something entirely different.
Shipping in from California off an eye-catching triumph earlier this month, Anothertwistafate could emerge a major contender in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf when it is run amid fading daylight Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Anothertwistafate faded badly to be 10th in the 2019 Preakness in his only Grade 1 attempt, but after switching over to turf since Peter Miller assumed his care for owner Peter Redekop, the son of the late Scat Daddy has suddenly assumed the look of eagles. His 2 1/4-length victory three Saturdays ago in the Grade 2 San Gabriel at Santa Anita suggested he could become a force in the national turf ranks, a hypothesis to be sternly tested when he faces 11 others in the $1 million Pegasus Turf.
Anothertwistafate, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred horse, is one of four California invaders in this grass companion to the richer Pegasus World Cup. The others are Next Shares, Storm the Court, and Say the Word, and their collective presence makes for an intriguing East-West matchup against their similarly accomplished counterparts from the New York-Florida circuit.
Anothertwistafate earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure in the San Gabriel, which coincided with his first time wearing blinkers. Jockey Joel Rosario, a former Gulfstream regular based at Santa Anita again this winter, suggested the equipment change, and he’ll be in for the return mount Saturday when Anothertwistafate breaks from post 8 in the 1 3/16-mile race.
“Mr. Redekop wanted to try him on the grass because of his pedigree,” said Miller. “It’s been so far, so good.”
Still, Miller concedes Anothertwistafate will have to run another corker to prevail in what shapes up as an extremely competitive race Saturday. Colonel Liam, one of three in here for trainer Todd Pletcher, is a lukewarm 7-2 favorite on the Gulfstream morning line, followed by Largent, a second Pletcher trainee, at 9-2. Then come Anotherwistafate at 5-1, Say the Word at 6-1, and six more listed between 8-1 and 15-1.
“Our horse is very live, but obviously it’s a wide-open race,” said Miller.
Colonel Liam (post 5, Irad Ortiz Jr.) is one of three 4-year-olds in the lineup making their first stakes start versus older horses, along with Storm the Court, who’s still winless since earning a divisional championship by upsetting the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and the New Orleans shipper Pixelate. Colonel Liam looked particularly sharp in winning the Dec. 26 Tropical Park Derby over the Gulfstream turf in an effort Pletcher termed “very impressive.”
Largent (post 6, Paco Lopez) ran three straight times in Virginia-bred company last summer, partly accounting for his 16-1 odds when he outran a solid group of older horses in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale here Dec. 12.
“We took advantage of his Virginia-bred status because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you have those kinds of options,” said Pletcher. “It wasn’t so much that we felt like he didn’t belong at Saratoga or some bigger races. We had the opportunity and wanted to take advantage of it.”
Social Paranoia (post 12, Luis Saez), the third Pletcher starter, has developed a very consistent closing kick, having finished third or better in 14 of 16 career starts, the vast majority of them in stakes. The 5-year-old son of Street Boss returned from a 5 1/2-month layoff with a good-looking allowance win Dec. 16 over the local course.
Say the Word (post 11, Flavien Prat) owns some of the top Beyers in the field, having won the Grade 1 Northern Dancer at Woodbine in October with a 102 prior to being transferred to Phil D’Amato, for whom the gelding was a just-miss third in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar with a 101.
Mike Maker has a couple of sleepers in here in Aquaphobia (post 7, Joe Bravo) and Cross Border (post 9, Tyler Gaffalione). Last summer, Aquaphobia won the Grade 1 United Nations with a 103 Beyer, a number matched in here only by Anothertwistafate’s San Gabriel breakout.
The Shug McGaughey duo of Breaking the Rules and North Dakota rounds out the cast.
Post time for the Pegasus Turf, the 11th of 12 races, is 4:59 p.m. Eastern. It begins the late daily double with the $3 million Pegasus, the program finale.
This is the third running of the Pegasus Turf, and a sustained period of warm, dry weather in the local area promises it will be run over firm going. The winner of the 2019 inaugural over a soggy course was Bricks and Mortar, the eventual Horse of the Year, while the winner last January was the Maker-trained Zulu Alpha, a finalist in the older turf-horse category at the upcoming 2020 Eclipse Awards.