Yoshida will break from post 2 in the Pegasus World Cup Turf
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Yoshida drew post 2 as the morning-line favorite in the inaugural running of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, to be run Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
A winner of Grade 1 races on both turf and dirt, Yoshida was listed as the 5-2 favorite in a field of 10 older horses drawn Tuesday at Gulfstream for the Pegasus Turf, which will be run at 1 3/16 miles.
In post-position order, and with odds and jockeys, this is the lineup for the Pegasus Turf:
Magic Wand (9-2), Wayne Lordan; Yoshida (5-2), Jose Ortiz; Channel Maker (12-1), Javier Castellano; Aerolithe (8-1), Florent Geroux; Next Shares (15-1), Tyler Gaffalione; Fahan Mura (30-1), Edwin Maldonado; Bricks and Mortar (5-1), Irad Ortiz Jr.; Delta Prince (15-1), Frankie Dettori; Catapult (7-2), Joel Rosario; and Dubby Dubbie (30-1), Luca Panici.
Yoshida, a 5-year-old horse bred in Japan, won the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day and had raced exclusively on grass until his last two starts. He won the Grade 1 Woodward and was fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, both on dirt, in his last two races.
“We gave him a little bit of a break when he came out of the Breeders’ Cup, but we kept him jogging and training easily,” trainer Bill Mott said. “We made the decision to run in the Pegasus, so we started cranking him up and he’s done very well since then. He seems like since every work he’s picked up in condition and seems to be feeling very good with himself.”
Catapult, second to Expert Eye in the BC Mile in his most recent start, was among a large contingent of horses scheduled to arrive here Tuesday following a flight that originated in Southern California. The 6-year-old horse is trained by John Sadler, who has morning-line favorite Accelerate for the Pegasus.
Magic Wand, fourth in the BC Filly and Mare Turf for the Coolmore group, and Aerolithe, a Japanese-bred mare, are the two foreign representatives in the Pegasus Turf lineup. They’re joined by the speedy California mare Fahan Mura as the three female starters in the field.
The Pegasus Turf will directly precede the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational as the 11th of 12 races on a Saturday card that starts at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Post time for the Pegasus Turf is 4:50, with the Pegasus (race 12) set for 5:40.