Pegasus Stakes looks like Mandaloun's for the taking
Mandaloun had the look of an elite 3-year-old finishing second May 1 in the Kentucky Derby. That performance looked even better following the June 5 Belmont Stakes, where Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie, third and fourth in the Derby, ran two of the faster Belmonts of the modern era. Put it all together and it looks like Mandaloun will be an extremely short-priced favorite Sunday at Monmouth Park when he faces four foes in the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes.
Regular rider Florent Geroux comes in to ride Mandaloun for trainer Brad Cox and owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms. Cox won his first Triple Crown race with Essential Quality last Saturday and stands to back into another classic with Mandaloun, who could become the official Derby winner if victorious Medina Spirit is disqualified. Medina Spirit’s post-race drug tests showed the presence of betamethasone, a corticosteroid that Kentucky racing law doesn’t allow at any level in post-race samples.
Cox and Juddmonte decided shortly after the Derby not to run Mandaloun back on two weeks’ rest in the Preakness, and since Cox does not see Mandaloun as a natural candidate for a 1 1/2-mile race like the Belmont, the colt’s Triple Crown trail ended in Louisville. Mandaloun could have started May 29 at Churchill, running out of his own stall, in the Matt Winn Stakes, but Cox thought the extra time between starts would serve Mandaloun well. With Monmouth’s Grade 1 Haskell Invitational set as a summer goal, a prep over the local racing surface seemed a prudent plan.
“His four works since the Derby have been very good. His weight’s really good, attitude really good. I’m super pleased with him and like the time between races,” Cox said.
The addition of blinkers over the winter helped Mandaloun, and Cox said he never found any excuse for the colt’s sixth-place dud as the 13-10 favorite in the March 20 Louisiana Derby. Mandaloun confirmed his quality in the Derby, perhaps even poking his head in front of Medina Spirit in upper stretch, and ought to benefit turning back to 1 1/16 miles Sunday.
The Pegasus field includes a second Derby starter in Brooklyn Strong, who was the last horse into the Derby following defections and never came close to contention, finishing 15th. Brooklyn Strong’s most important win came in the Grade 2 Remsen, which he won by a neck Dec. 5, but that race was contested over a sloppy track, and even at his best, Brooklyn Strong is more of a grinder than a colt like Mandaloun.
Dr Jack enters with a debut win and a first-level allowance score in his two starts, and trainer Todd Pletcher knows his way around a talented 3-year-old, but Dr Jack’s top Beyer Speed Figure is an 80 and he has a long way to go to reach Mandaloun’s level, though he looks a more likely contender than Lugamo.
That leaves Weyburn as Mandaloun’s chief competition. Weyburn, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, posted a 46-1 upset in the one-turn-mile Gotham on March 6, finished a decent fourth in a strangely run renewal of the Wood Memorial, and had been aimed at the Peter Pan Stakes as a prep for the Belmont when he spiked a fever a few days before the race and had to be withdrawn from consideration.
“We’ve had a few hiccups along the way, but Jimmy’s been very happy with the horse,” said Rob Landry, a former jockey and currently racing manager for owner Chiefswood Stable. “This looked like the right race to get him back into action.”
Ontario-bred Weyburn is eligible for the Queen’s Plate later this summer at Woodbine, but Landry said the hope is he proves good enough to continue racing in America.
“One race at a time, but we have little plan mapped out,” Landry said. “If he runs well here, he could go to the Jim Dandy, and then Travers, or back to Canada for the Queen’s Plate.”
Landry rued the decision to take a hold of Weyburn on the first turn of the slow-paced Wood. He thinks the colt, by Pioneerof the Nile, performs better running freely.
“His stride is his strength. If I was riding him, I’d like him to do what comes natural to him,” said Landry. “I think we learned a little bit from his last start.”
Dylan Davis rides Weyburn for the first time on Sunday. The task is tall, beating a horse who might eventually win the Kentucky Derby.