True Timber being considered for Pegasus

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – True Timber, runner-up to Patternrecognition in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, will be considered for the $9 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Wednesday.

McLaughlin is already in South Florida, but True Timber, beaten three-quarters of a length by Patternrecognition in the Cigar, is still at Belmont.

“He’s probably going to come down this way at some point and we’ll look at the Pegasus,” McLaughlin said Wednesday by phone. “Don’t know if he gets in it, but we’re going to look at it and point that way, and we’ll have to go from there.”

As a 3-year-old, True Timber was unsuccessful in many attempts around two turns. His best result was a second-place finish to El Areeb in the Withers at 1 1/16 miles.

This year, since shortening up to one-turn races, True Timber never finished worse than third in seven races. He is by Mineshaft out of the Tiznow mare Queen’s Wood.

“The mile was perfect for him,” McLaughlin said. “A mile and an eighth, now that he’s older and doing better, maybe that’s not a problem either.”

Sunny Ridge, third in Cigar Mile, will remain in New York and could point to either the $125,000 Queens County on Dec. 22 or the $100,000 Jazil on Jan. 26. Sunny Ridge won the Jazil last January.

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‘Dream’ rematch in Garland of Roses

Unable to find suitable transportation to California for the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin opted to enter Dream Pauline in Saturday’s $100,000 Garland of Roses Stakes at Aqueduct.

Dream Pauline will face Vertical Oak, who beat her by 6 1/4 lengths in the $100,000 Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4. The Garland of Roses drew a field of five.

Vertical Oak, a 4-year-old daughter of Giant Oak, is 8 for 19 with six stakes wins, including the Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga in 2017. Eric Cancel will ride Vertical Oak.

Dream Pauline, a 3-year-old daughter of Tapit, won her first two starts, including a maiden race last December at Aqueduct. She encountered traffic trouble early on in the Dream Supreme. David Cohen rides.

Yorkiepoo Princess, who won the off-the-turf Autumn Days Stakes here on Nov. 25, is entered back seeking her third consecutive win in five weeks. Sower and Tigalalu, both scratched from last Saturday’s Grade 3 Go for Wand, are also entered in the six-furlong Garland of Roses.