HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Bill Mott said he’d prefer not to run Batten Down and Stars and Stripes against one another to open their 2026 campaigns. But with few options available around two turns locally for older horses, such will be the case in Friday’s $87,000 ninth race at Gulfstream Park, to be decided at 1 1/16 miles over the main track. Batten Down is the more experienced and accomplished of the Mott duo, having won the Grade 3 Ohio Derby and finishing third in the Grade 3 Jim Dandy at age 3. The Juddmonte homebred made only two starts in 2025 and has been idle since finishing a distant fifth going 1 1/4 miles in the Excelsior on April 5 at Aqueduct. Stars and Stripes showed a world of promise right off the bat as a 3-year-old last season, winning a maiden race at second asking by 10 1/2 lengths on June 15 at Aqueduct and an entry-level allowance by 7 1/4 lengths five weeks later at Saratoga. But he has started just once since, finishing fourth and last, nearly 15 lengths behind the undefeated Disco Time, in the one-mile Dwyer on Nov. 8 at Aqueduct. “Batten Down got a little jammed up and needed time off,” Mott explained when asked why the son of Tapit had been away from the races since the spring. “He looks like he can still be a pretty solid Grade 2 or 3 type. That’s what he’s shown before, and I believe he’s capable of coming back to that level this year.” :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports are available now.  As for Stars and Stripes, Mott said he took some of the blame for his disappointing performance in the Dwyer. “The mile was the wrong race to run him in,” Mott admitted. “I’d love to run him a mile and one-eighth. I think he’d prefer that even to the mile and one-sixteenth on Friday, but you’re not going to get that kind of opportunity too much right now.” Mott said he had little choice but to bring the two horses back in the same race. “They’ve been working together. One week, one is better; the next week, the other,” Mott explained. “I don’t want to run them together, but if I don’t, I might not get a chance to run one of them for a long time, and they’re both ready to run. And right now, I’ve got to see if one or both of them are ready to graduate back into stakes company after this.” The Mott duo will face six rivals in Friday’s headliner, the most dangerous of whom may be Digital Ops, runner-up in the Birdstone Stakes going 1 3/4 miles last summer at Saratoga. He’s been sidelined since finishing a distant fourth after contesting the early pace in the 1 1/2-mile, Grade 3 Greenwood Cup on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing. “I think the Birdstone took a toll on him,” said Saffie Joseph Jr., who trains Digital Ops for owner Jeffrey Drown. “So we gave him a break and now we need to see where we’re at. He needs to be forwardly placed, so hopefully he’ll break well.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Magna Time could prove a sleeper while making his local debut and first start on dirt for trainer Kevin Attard. Second best under similar optional-claiming and allowance conditions last month in his Woodbine finale, Magna Time looked razor sharp working over the main course here last week, zipping four furlongs in 46.80 seconds while doing so without being asked for his best at any point. Statesman, idle since finishing far back in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, Freedom Road, Conquering Cat, and Solo Venturi complete the field. Final Pegasus invites released The final invitation list for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup came out Wednesday, with the recently retired Goal Oriented and Touchuponastar having been replaced by Madaket Road and British Isles. Madaket Road would help assure a lively pace stretching out off a series of seven-furlong races, including a second-place finish last spring at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens and a fourth-place effort after holding a clear lead during the early stages of the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita in his 3-year-old finale. Madaket Road led into the stretch before finishing fourth behind Tappan Street and Sovereignty in the 2025 Florida Derby. British Isles is coming off a career-best performance when a game second behind the odds-on Nevada Beach in the Grade 3 Native Diver on Nov. 22 at Del Mar. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.