Saudi Crown's Pegasus status still up in the air
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saudi Crown moved closer to a possible start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, 800 miles closer to be precise, when shipping from Fair Grounds to Payson Park earlier this week. But trainer Brad Cox said he still isn’t exactly sure of the Grade 1 winner’s status for the race.
Cox said a return trip to the $20 million Saudi Cup is currently the primary goal for Saudi Crown. Saudi Crown, a son of Always Dreaming, finished third in last year’s Saudi Cup behind Senor Buscador and Ushba Tesoro, beaten less than a length.
Saudi Crown closed his 2024 campaign, during which he earned more than $2.2 million, with a well-graded two-length victory in the Tenacious Stakes on Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds. The race was a major bounce-back following his very poor performance seven weeks earlier when he finished a distant 13th and last in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar.
“We thought about the Cigar Mile as an option after the Breeders’ Cup but decided to run him at the Fair Grounds instead to see if we still had the Saudi Crown of old, and he was terrific. Some figures had it as the best race of his life,” Cox said. “I’m very happy with the way he’s trained out of the Tenacious to this point. He’ll breeze tomorrow at Payson, and we’ll kind of let him tell us what to do after that.
“The Saudi Cup is our number one goal. As far as the Pegasus is concerned, a lot will depend on whether we feel we want him to have another start before going over there, as well as how the field appears to be shaping up for this race here.”
Cox’s Payson Park contingent, currently about 50 strong, also includes Suncroft who looms the likely favorite and horse to beat in Sunday’s co-featured ninth race at Gulfstream Park, a seven-furlong dash for older horses to be decided for a $97,000 purse under allowance and high-priced optional-claiming conditions.
Suncroft, a 5-year-old Juddmonte homebred, has shown a lot of potential in his four lifetime starts during a career that got off to a bit of a late start and was preempted again following a third-place finish behind subsequent Grade 1 winner Mullikin under optional-claiming and allowance conditions last June at Churchill Downs. Suncroft has earned Beyer Speed Figures between 91 and 93 in three of his four outings and has been working on a regular basis since arriving at Payson during the fall, including a pair of bullet drills in preparation for his first race in seven months.
“I really love the way he’s doing and how he’s been training at Payson,” Cox said. “I also like the idea of him running at seven furlongs off the layoff. I’m not sure if he’s quite 100 percent fit, but he’s definitely ready to roll and I expect a big effort from him on Sunday.”
Suncroft will face six rivals in his local debut, including the speedy win machine Concrete Glory, who has captured eight of his 12 starts over the past two seasons and is perfect in three career races at seven furlongs. Concrete Glory has fashioned an enviable record against starter-allowance competition and will be taking a step up in class.
Caramel Chip got the better of Concrete Glory on a couple of occasions in 2023 but finished a distant third behind him when they last met Nov. 16 at Churchill. He looms a key contender in a field that includes Pure Class, Flying Liam, Saint Tapit, and Great Navigator. Unlike Concrete Glory, Caramel Chip will be getting some class relief following a respectable fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector on Dec. 28.
Rainbow 6 hit Thursday
The Rainbow 6, distributed in a mandatory payout last Sunday, survived for just a single day before being hit Thursday to the tune of a $100,735 payoff.
Two of the winners in the sequence, Altamira Sur ($17.60) in the sixth race and Silvology ($7.60) in the seventh, were ridden by jockey Dylan Davis, who registered a hat track on the card and has won six races from the 25 mounts thus far at the Championship meet.
Davis, 34, is riding regularly here this winter for the first time since his apprentice season in 2013-14 when he posted 41 victories during the Championship meet.
Davis, the son of former jockey Robbie Davis, also posted 14 victories riding here on a temporary basis during the Covid pandemic in 2020 when Gulfstream was among the only tracks in North America operating at the time.
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