Pincay upsetter J B Strikes Back will skip Pegasus, stay in California
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J B Strikes Back, the former maiden claimer who scored an upset win in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, will miss the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25 in favor of a California-based campaign, trainer Doug O’Neill said.
“It was coming back too quick,” O’Neill said of the decision to skip the $3 million Pegasus World Cup. He also cited cross-country travel for a reason to keep J B Strikes Back in California.
O’Neill said the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 1 is a possibility.
“We’ll give him a little time,” he said. “There are no definite plans. The Big Cap would be a goal.”
Owned by Janie Buss, who races as Purple Rein Racing, J B Strikes Back has won four of nine starts. In the Pincay Stakes, his stakes debut, J B Strikes Back disputed the pace throughout and won by 1 1/4 lengths at 16-1 for his third consecutive win.
J B Strikes Back, a 4-year-old gelding, was claimed from Buss and O’Neill for $20,000 from a win in a maiden race at Del Mar last July and reclaimed by them for $25,000 less than two weeks later. J B Strikes Back has been with them since, winning three of five starts.