Whiskey Decision seeks smoother trip in Hillsborough
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OLDSMAR, Fla. – Whiskey Decision finished a close fourth behind Destino d’Oro in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Chad Brown believes she could have won with a cleaner trip.
On Saturday, at Tampa Bay Downs, Brown hopes for smoother sailing when Whiskey Decision again meets Destino d’Oro and six others in the Grade 2, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes, a race Brown has won seven times.
Already near the back of the pack in the Pegasus, Whiskey Decision was shuffled back to last, Brown said, when Destino d’Oro, who was last early, came over on her while advancing a few positions down the backside. While Destino d’Oro had clear sailing in the lane, Whiskey Decision found herself running up behind horses before moving to the outside. She closed quickly and was beaten just 1 1/4 lengths.
“If you’re at Gulfstream, it’s bad enough that she has only two horses beat, then you get cut off and you’re last midway through the race,” Brown said. “One thing at Gulfstream you don’t want to do is lose position each eighth. You want to be moving forward on that track. She lost a bunch of position halfway through the race, ended up last, and somehow finished fourth and almost won. I do believe she was best in that race.”
The Pegasus was run at 1 1/16 miles. The Hillsborough is 1 1/8 miles, a distance at which Whiskey Decision is 2 for 3. The loss came in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in 2024, when she uncharacteristically found herself on the lead.
Flavien Prat rides Whiskey Decision from the rail.
Brown also sends out Child of the Moon, a 6-year-old mare who comes off a second-place finish in an allowance here earlier in the meet, her first start in 14 months. Like Whiskey Decision did in 2025, Child of the Moon won the Athenia Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct in 2024.
“She had a serious injury, but she’s gotten fully over it,” Brown said. “She was so lightly raced and had so much promise that we decided to treat her 6-year-old year like she’s 5. She just doesn’t have many miles on her.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Child of the Moon from post 6.
Proctor Street finished eighth in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, also encountering traffic around the turn and rallying only mildly along the rail in the stretch. She won her lone start at 1 1/8 miles in last year’s Cardinal Stakes at Churchill Downs.
“She got stuck in traffic in the Pegasus, didn’t have the greatest trip in the world,” said trainer Brendan Walsh, who won three turf stakes at Gulfstream Park last Saturday. “Some horses don’t handle [Gulfstream] quite as well. I’m hoping she’ll handle Tampa better. There’s a bit more room to maneuver, but she is doing very well. I think she’ll be right there.”
John Velazquez rides Proctor Street from post 2.
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Destino d’Oro certainly handled Gulfstream fine, winning the Tropical Park Oaks a month before the Pegasus. Destino d’Oro won the Grade 3 Pucker Up against 3-year-olds last summer at Ellis Park before disappointing efforts in the Dueling Grounds Oaks and Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. Cox blamed himself for the latter.
“I got greedy there and it didn’t work out,” Cox said. “When she’s good, she’s good.”
And One More Time, beaten a head by Destino d’Oro in the Tropical Park Oaks, finished seventh behind her in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. Typically forward, And One More Time broke last and made a wide run around the first turn to duel for the early lead when the field straightened down the backstretch. Thus, it was no surprise she didn’t finish well.
Despite an outside draw, And One More Time should have an easier time getting forward in the Hillsborough, provided she breaks cleaner under Javier Castellano.
Scythian and Dreaming of Abba, third and fifth, respectively, in the Grade 3 Endeavour here on Jan. 31, and the seemingly out of place Aunt Mo complete the field.
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