Regal Glory early favorite as 11 enter Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Regal Glory is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in a field of 11 entered Tuesday for the inaugural running of the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf, part of the huge Pegasus card set for Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Regal Glory, yet another standout female turf runner from the Chad Brown stable, will have Jose Ortiz back aboard when breaking from post 4 in the 1 1/16-mile race. The 6-year-old mare was a front-running winner of the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar in late November in her most recent start.
Sweet Melania, a last-out winner of the Grade 3 Suwannee River over the Gulfstream turf for trainer Todd Pletcher, is the second program choice at 5-1, followed by Nicest and Shifty She as 6-1 co-third choices.
From the rail, this is the field: Sweet Melania, Wakanaka, Lady Speightspeare, Regal Glory, Gift List, Alms, Nicest, Summer in Saratoga, Shifty She, In a Hurry, and Bipartisanship.
The Filly and Mare Turf goes as race 9 as one of seven graded stakes on a 12-race card that starts at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.
NBC will have coverage of all three Pegasus events.
The local forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 65. Limited ticketing was still available as of late Tuesday.
Grade 3, $150,000 La Prevoyante (race 5)
Always Shopping, a three-length winner of this race at even money last year for Pletcher, figures to be favored again in a field of nine fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on the turf.
The Christophe Clement pair of Sorrel and Beautiful Lover look like the top threats, along with Sister Otoole, back in a week after needing a start last Saturday in the Sunshine series.
Grade 3, $200,000 W.L. McKnight (race 7)
An oversubscribed field that includes six Mike Maker trainees – including two on the also-eligibles list – makes for a contentious lead-off race in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 7-12), which is comprised entirely of graded stakes, ending with the $3 million Pegasus World Cup.
In all, 15 are entered, with only as many as 12 allowed to start. Maybe the best of the Maker foursome in the main body are Temple and Glynn County, although the lone Pletcher entry, Abaan, could be a slight favorite off his last-out romp in the two-mile Allen Jerkens.
The McKnight, the male counterpart to the La Prevoyante, also will be run around three turns at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.
Grade 2, $200,000 Inside Information (race 8)
A G Indy, a stakes winner out west, makes her first start for Pletcher following her sale last fall when facing nine other fillies and mares in this seven-furlong fixture on the main track.
Pacific Gale, who upset this race last year at 16-1, figures in the mix, along with Rampart winner Dance d’Oro and the one-two finishers in a recent allowance prep, Starship Nala and Four Graces.
Grade 3, $150,000 Fred W. Hooper (race 10)
Fearless, a last-out winner of the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday, could be part of a huge day for Pletcher when vying for favoritism with Speaker’s Corner among nine older horses in this one-mile main-track race.
Speaker’s Corner has earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in three of his last four starts, including a 109 in a Belmont Park allowance romp in late October.