Big money winter races put older horses on display

Before the international calendar became saturated with multimillion-dollar stakes for older horses, the handicap division was not typically a hot topic in the month of January.

It changed when winter-spring became the new summer-fall. The richest races now are the earliest – the $3 million Pegasus in January at Gulfstream Park, inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup in February in Saudi Arabia, and $12 million Dubai World Cup in March.

Too much of a good thing? Maybe. The division is diluted, yet here it is, center stage. That previously did not happen in winter. There is money to be made. That did not happen in winter, either.

Some things stay the same, like Bob Baffert’s knack for calling a successful audible. He planned to bring back Mucho Gusto in a lesser race, but changed his mind. Mucho Gusto won the Pegasus by more than four lengths Saturday in a 107-Beyer performance that Omaha Beach would have been hard-pressed to beat if he did not scratch.

“I was going to run [Mucho Gusto] in the San Pasqual,” Baffert said Sunday, referring to the upcoming Grade 2 at Santa Anita. “And then, there were a lot of things going on down there with the [Pegasus]. I was hearing little things. I said, ‘I better get prepared.’ ”

The intel was accurate, and the Pegasus fell apart. Omaha Beach and Spun to Run scratched, leaving the field with just two Grade 1 winners – off-form Seeking the Soul and enigmatic Higher Power. Not a strong group. Mucho Gusto was a mere Grade 3 winner.

Baffert reasoned the colt had changed since his 3-year-old campaign ended four months earlier with a dull fourth at Remington. He was worn out from excessive travel. Mucho Gusto raced last year in California, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma.

The time off did him good. He filled out, put on weight, and after a sharp Jan. 18 gate work Baffert gave Mucho Gusto the green light for Gulfstream.

“He was doing the best he’s ever done, so I thought I might take a shot just to get a piece if it,” Baffert said. “A mile and an eighth is his distance, he ships well, he has speed, and you need speed for that track.”

The rest is history. Mucho Gusto was given an aggressive pre-race warmup by Irad Ortiz, broke like a shot, tucked inside, tipped out into the lane, and won clear.

Now it’s on to the Saudi Cup with stablemate McKinzie, who has not raced since he finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. “McKinzie runs really well fresh,” Baffert said. “It’s a good two to go [to the Saudi Cup].”

Aside from the scratch of Omaha Beach, the disappointment in the Pegasus was Higher Power, the favorite. He was under a drive on the far turn, and finished last. Trainer John Sadler will figure out what went awry. Usually, one bad race can be forgiven. Perhaps he needs Lasix, which was not allowed in the Pegasus.

“The good news is we’ve got all year to regroup,” Sadler said. “It’s January.”

Higher Power, who romped in the Pacific Classic last summer at Del Mar, supports a California handicap division that goes through Baffert even while McKinzie and Mucho Gusto go to the Middle East.

Game Winner, champion juvenile male of 2018, is in light training for a 4-year-old campaign. “I’m looking at the end of April having him ready,” Baffert said.

Baffert also trains Roadster, the 2019 Santa Anita Derby winner who runs Feb. 1 in the San Pasqual. No shipping. “I’d like to keep him here,” Baffert said. “He’s developing, slowly. He doesn’t need to ship anywhere. I can run him here, then run in the Big Cap.”

Following the San Pasqual, Roadster’s next start should be against 2019 Santa Anita Handicap winner Gift Box, the 7-year-old Sadler trainee who also will stay local.

As for the East Coast, reinforcements returning for spring are led by 4-year-old Code of Honor, a two-time Grade 1 winner ready to resume training after spending early winter at Margaux Farm in Kentucky.

Trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday that Code of Honor will rejoin his Payson Park string “in about a week.” McGaughey also trains Performer, a Grade 3 winner in light training at Payson. Code of Honor and Performer will aim for April comebacks. Jason Servis-trained Maximum Security, champion 3-year-old of 2019, runs in the Saudi Cup.

Missing is the retired Omaha Beach, whose 10-start career alternated between brilliance and disappointment. “We had both with this horse,” Richard Mandella said, marveling at what might have been. “No telling how good he was, he was turning into a monster.”

Omaha Beach won three Grade 1’s, and earned four straight triple-digit Beyers. But he lost his only Breeders’ Cup start, finishing second as the favorite in the Dirt Mile, and scratched as the pre-race favorite from both the Kentucky Derby and Pegasus.

Mandella acknowledged frustration at unfulfilled promise: “If you’re going to train horses, you better fasten your seatbelt and prepare for it. It’s as simple as that.”

The scratch of Omaha Beach, after X-rays revealed the beginning of a fracture, was described in a racetrack press release as a decision based on “an abundance of caution.”

Mandella added clarification: “Nobody ever had reluctance from me to scratch a horse that shouldn’t run. Nobody had to convince me. That was a no-brainer.”