Sea Streak gets another shot at Hades in Pegasus Stakes

Eddie Owens used to work for trainer Joe Orseno, one of Owens’s stints as an assistant before he went out on his own in 2020. Owens and Orseno stable in the same Monmouth Park barn, and Owens has been keeping a close eye on the Orseno-trained 3-year-old Hades.

“I see him every day,” Owens said.

Hades won the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February at Gulfstream Park. The Owens-trained Sea Streak finished seventh in that race, beaten more than eight lengths. Owens believes the dynamic will shift when Sea Streak faces Hades and probably no more than six others Saturday in the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes.

“This horse has blossomed since we’ve been home in Jersey. He’s filled out, training better than he’s ever trained,” Owens said.

The 1 1/16-mile Pegasus serves as the local prep for the $1 million Haskell. That race will attract major players from this 3-year-old crop. The Pegasus horses are trying to earn their way in.

Eight were entered in the Pegasus, but Uncle Heavy is likely to be scratched in favor of the Ohio Derby. The field includes one no-hoper, Just Step On It, and another extremely unlikely winner, Willy D’s. The others all bear mentioning.

Drawn on the rail is potential favorite Tuscan Sky, who could have run his way into the Kentucky Derby on April 6 in the Wood Memorial after winning his first two races. Instead, Tuscan Sky barely ran at all, checking in seventh, beaten 12 lengths. Tuscan Sky was shipped sometime during May to Churchill Downs, where he posted two workouts in June after being scratched from the Sir Barton Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico. The colt had worked toward that race at Belmont Park.

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Domestic Product, second in the Holy Bull and winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, will take betting action with Flavien Prat riding for trainer Chad Brown. Brown was bullish on Domestic Product’s chances in the Derby, but Domestic Product never relaxed while pulling a wide trip on the way to a 13th-place finish. As he did before the Derby, Domestic Product has recently worked in company with top 3-year-old Sierra Leone, generally holding his own, but Domestic Product’s top Beyer Speed Figure is 87, not fast enough to win the Pegasus.

Otello finished sixth in the Holy Bull and didn’t fire on Turfway’s Tapeta surface in the Jeff Ruby Steaks. He’s lightly raced but needs a step forward.

Hades made the easiest of leads in the Holy Bull and turned it into a two-length victory, but when he was steadied and pushed into the rail going to the first turn of the Florida Derby, Hades lost his rhythm and never got it back, losing by nearly 20 lengths. Connections made a last-ditch effort to get into the Derby by running back two weeks later in the Lexington at Keeneland, a move that ended poorly.

“We decided to just give him a chance to regroup. He’s happy, been doing well, working the way I want him to work,” Orseno said.

Orseno added blinkers before the Lexington and despite getting a flat run will keep them on for the Pegasus while cutting back the blinker cup, allowing Hades a greater field of vision. While Hades probably doesn’t want to lead, New Jersey-bred Sea Streak will go forward from his outside draw.

Sea Streak faced lesser competition winning the Long Branch Sakes last month at Monmouth, but after pressing the pace while caught in a tight spot along the fence, he drew away impressively in the homestretch to win by more than seven lengths. Sea Streak, Owens said, has matured mentally, has grown more focused, and is ready to improve upon the 91 Beyer he put up last month. And that might be enough to win the Pegasus.

Salvator Mile

Pop quiz: Who turned in the fastest final quarter-mile and won the gallop-out in the Breeders’ Cup Classic? That would be Bright Future, who quietly rallied for a close sixth in the Classic and makes his first start since then in the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile.

Bright Future is even money on the track’s morning line and figures to be a shorter price than that facing seven rivals in the last of 12 races. Bright Future earned triple-digit Beyers his last three starts in 2023, and only one other Salvator entrant, Coastal Mission, has ever hit that level. Coastal Mission got a 100 two races ago winning a one-turn, seven-furlong contest.

Bright Future, working steadily at Belmont Park for Pletcher, hit a new level racing over 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 miles during the second part of his campaign last year, his top performance a nose win over Proxy in the 1 1/4-mile Woodward. But Bright Future began his career with four solid showings in one-turn miles, and Saturday’s shorter trip should not get him beat.

Artorius and Oscar Eclipse can run faster than they did in their most recent starts, but neither is fast enough for anything near Bright Future’s best.

Shirl’s Speight would be a major player at one mile on turf. One of his three dirt starts came two summers ago in the Salvator Mile, where he finished a well-beaten third. Mind Control won that Salvator for Pletcher. Bright Future should win this one.

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