Horse transit problem for West Coast Pegasus horses solved Monday afternoon

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - As if trying to fill a starting gate that will already have Knicks Go and Life is Good in it isn’t a Herculean task in itself for Vice President of Racing Mike Lakow, Racing Secretary Mike Costanzo, and the rest of the Gulfstream Park racing office, adding a transportation issue into the mix makes things even harder when it comes to attracting entries for Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and its two major supporting events.

Fortunately that problem appears to have been solved at the 12fth hour, according to Aidan Butler, chief operating officer for 1 S/T Racing.

“It has been a complete nightmare with cargo flights being grounded, for the most part, due to COVID problems and pilots getting sick,” Butler acknowledged Monday. “They pretty much put a hard stop on shifting animals, especially large animals, over the past few weeks. So it was a little touch and go for us for a while. But fortunately FedEx pulled out all the stops to get this done to bring the West Coast horses here.”

Among the California-based horses expected to board the FedEx flight for Miami on Tuesday are Pegasus World Cup contender Stilleto Boy, Grade 1 winner Hit the Road, who figures among the favorites in the Pegasus Turf, and Nicest, who looms one of the key players in the inaugural Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf.

“It’s still a bit of a moving target, so to speak,” said Butler. “You never know until the plane actually takes off and gets here, but we feel pretty good about it right now.”

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Along with the Knicks Go, Life Is Good, and Stilleto Boy, Lakow said he also has the Dallas Stewart-trained pair of Chess Chief and Title Ready, Commandeer, Empty Tomb, Endorsed, and Sir Winston confirmed for the main event while hoping to grab one or more entries off an also-eligible list of invitees that includes Speaker’s Corner, Coastal Defense, and War Stopper.

Entries for the Pegasus World Cup program will be drawn Tuesday, with the main event to be drawn during a special ceremony at the track scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Stilleto Boy will be making his first start since finishing a distant third in the Grade 1 Malibu going seven furlongs on Dec. 26. He was beaten 10 1/4 lengths when checking home a wide-running fifth behind Knicks Go in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“FedEx hasn’t had a flight out of here in three weeks because a bunch of their pilots came down with COVID, and I was told they weren’t going out of here this week either,” Moger said from Santa Anita on Monday. “My horse is doing great and I’m excited about sending him there. I know he’s going up against a couple of really tough horses but they do have similar running styles, it’s a big purse and my horse is doing great so we’re going to swing the bat and see what happens. If we can get there.”

Moger, who has Kent Desormeaux lined up to ride Stilleto Boy in the Pegasus World Cup, said his alternative plan, if he could not get his horse to Gulfstream for the race, is the Grade 2 San Pasqual at Santa Anita on Feb. 5.

The lack of flights is also a problem, albeit less of an issue, for the Louisiana-based horses pointing for the race, including Knicks Go, who was scheduled to van from the Fair Grounds to Gulfstream on Monday. The same holds true for Chess Chief and Title Ready, who Stewart said will be leaving on a van Monday afternoon with a scheduled arrival time sometime in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday.

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“Obviously we’d rather fly, but you can’t walk ’em there so we’ll just put them on a van and ship them down that way. Just like the old days,” said Stewart.

Title Ready will be making his third start since finishing far back in the Dubai World Cup in March and first since a sixth-place finish at 5-1 in the Tinsel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Dec. 18. Chess Chief is coming off a come-from-behind nose victory in the Tenacious Stakes at the Fair Grounds the following week.

“They’re both solid horses,” said Stewart. “Title Ready didn’t have a great race in the mud last time, but he looks great and has come back with some really good works, and Chess Chief is a really nice horse as well.

“Obviously you’d prefer coming with the horse to beat, but if we’re going to come over and take a shot we might as well be coming with a couple of closers, like we are. It’s a big purse. There might be a speed duel. Who knows?”

In deference to the horses who will be competing in the three main events on Saturday’s program, management has announced that only Pegasus horses will be permitted on the track to train between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. from Wednesday through Friday.

Beginning Jan. 31, both the main and Tapeta tracks will be closed for training on Mondays until further notice for maintenance purposes.