McKinzie's defection opens up spot in Pegasus World Cup
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With McKinzie officially out of the Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park officials were still in the process Friday of determining who the 12th starter will be for the $9 million extravaganza.
A track spokesman confirmed McKinzie’s defection and said several horses were under consideration for the final berth and that an also-eligibles list beyond the 12-horse limit could be used when entries are drawn Tuesday for the 1 1/8-mile race.
In alphabetical order, these are the Pegasus starters, with confirmed jockeys: Accelerate, Joel Rosario; Audible, Flavien Prat; Bravazo, Luis Saez; City of Light, Javier Castellano; Gunnevera, Irad Ortiz Jr.; 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.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and race favorite Accelerate was scheduled to have his final prerace workout at Santa Anita prior to being flown here on a charter that will depart Southern California early Tuesday and make a stop in New Orleans. Virtually all starters for both the Pegasus World Cup and $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf were scheduled to have their final prerace drills a week or so out from next Saturday’s races.
The California-based City of Light, the first out-of-town arrival for the Pegasus, had his first day of training at Gulfstream on Thursday. The winner of the BC Dirt Mile, he will be making his final career start before heading to stud duty at Lane’s End.
“He’s acclimated very well already,” said trainer Michael McCarthy. “I’m planning on putting him through a little half-mile breeze ahead of the race.”
This third running of the Pegasus looks like the most competitive to date. In the 2017 inaugural, worth $12 million, Arrogate won as the 9-10 favorite as the second choice, California Chrome, faltered in his final career start. Last year, for a $16 million purse, Gun Runner was an easy winner as the 11-10 favorite in his career finale.
Meanwhile, the prospective field for the inaugural running of the Pegasus Turf stood at 10 as of Friday, with track officials optimistic they will reach the 12-horse capacity for this 1 3/16-mile race, too. Those confirmed are Aerolithe, Bricks and Mortar, Catapult, Channel Maker, Delta Prince, Dubby Dubbie, Fahan Mura, Magic Wand, Next Shares, and the likely favorite, Yoshida. Other possibilities were said to include Hi Happy, Pavel, and Unbridled Juan.
Entries for both Pegasus events will be drawn in the new Flamingo Room at the track. The entire Saturday card, including seven more stakes, will be drawn later Tuesday. Those supporting events are the Grade 3 McKnight, Grade 3 La Prevoyante, Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper, Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie, and three ungraded turf stakes – the South Beach, Gulfstream Turf Sprint, and Ladies’ Turf Sprint.
