The final weekend of racing for 2023 kicks off on Saturday with a trio of graded stakes at Gulfstream Park. Christened Pegasus World Cup preview day, the card features traditional prep races for the seven-figure contests held in late January.
Perhaps the most interesting race on the card is the G2 Fort Lauderdale, held over nine furlongs on the turf course. Ten have entered the prep for the Pegasus Turf, with two each from the barns of trainers Mike Maker, Todd Pletcher, and Chad Brown.
Saturday's card at Santa Anita also offers two graded stakes, including the G2 Joe Hernandez featuring an overflow field of 13 going about 6 1/2 furlongs along the downhill turf course.
On Monday, the first day of the new year, freshly-turned 3-year-olds take center stage at both Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn.
Oaklawn's nine-strong Smarty Jones Stakes will award the winner 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, while the Mucho Macho Man drew eight young horses looking to make their first step on the Road to the Florida Derby.
Saturday
3:00 p.m. – Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita Park
Phil D'Amato's classy Irish-bred Balnikhov cuts back in distance and heads a field of 12 3-year-olds and up going about 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita's one of a kind hillside turf course. A fast finishing third, beaten one length going a mile and one sixteenth over the Del Mar lawn in the G2 Seabiscuit Handicap Nov. 25, Balnikhov, a two-time graded stakes winner on grass, will be trying the hillside course for the first time on Saturday and will be ridden by Antonio Fresu, who guided him to a narrow second place finish four starts back in the G2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 30.
Most recently second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths going five furlongs on turf in Del Mar's Stormy Liberal Stakes Dec. 2, D'Amato's Irish-bred Turn On The Jets gives the stable a powerful one-two punch. A first condition allowance winner going five furlongs on turf in his U.S. debut nine starts back in August, 2022, this 4-year-old gelding was subsequently a close second and third in a pair of second condition hillside allowances here in October and November of 2022 and will thus be making his third career hillside appearance on Saturday.
Turn on the Jets, who can make or press the early lead if need-be, will be reunited with Juan Hernandez, who has won with him twice from six engagements.
Winless but close in his five Southern California starts, four of them stakes, Mark Glatt's Irish-bred I'm A Gambler has shown an affinity for the hillside course in his last start and rates a huge chance with Frankie Dettori taking over for the first time.
4:34 p.m. – Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Saffie Joseph trainee O'Connor enters the Harlan's Holiday off a career-best performance at Keeneland in the Fayette (G2). The Chilean-bred son of Boboman settled off the pace before kicking in late to prevail by a head in the 1 1/8-mile stakes. His encouraging effort under Tyler Gaffalione was his first victory since capturing his U.S. debut by eight lengths in October 2022.
Joseph is also scheduled to saddle Ny Traffic for the Harlan's Holiday. The multiple graded stakes-placed 6-year-old son of Cross Traffic, who is a multiple-stakes winner at sprint distances, will stretch out around two turns for the first time in more than two years after coming off a year layoff with an optional claiming allowance win and a runner-up finish in the Hudson at Aqueduct.
Dubyuhnell will continue on the comeback trail for trainer Danny Gargan in the Harlan's Holiday, following a most encouraging optional claiming allowance victory Oct. 28 at Keeneland off a six-month layoff. The 3-year-old son of Good Magic, who hadn't run since finishing far back in the April 1 Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream, was forwardly placed in the 1 1/8-mile race before taking the lead in the stretch and prevailing by a length over next-out winner Denington.
5:04 p.m. – Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park
No trainer has had more starters in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) than defending champion Mike Maker's 10, and he'll have the chance to add to his total depending on how Red Run and Henley's Joy perform in Saturday's $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
Henley's Joy is a 7-year-old millionaire that earned Grade 1 credentials in the 2019 Belmont Derby Invitational for Maker but hasn't visited the winner's circle since. He was moved to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen after finishing seventh to his stablemate in the 2020 Pegasus Turf, began 2022 in California with trainer Richard Baltas and was claimed back by Maker from another Hall of Famer, Mark Casse, for $62,500 in September. Henley's Joy was eased to finish last of 11 in a 1 5/16-mile optional claiming allowance Sept. 9 at Kentucky Downs the day he changed barns, but bounced back to be third going 1 1/16 miles over Woodbine's all-weather surface Oct. 8, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, in his most recent start.
Red Run will break from Post 8 with Edgard Zayas aboard in his ninth start since being claimed by Maker for $50,000 out of a runner-up finish March 12 at Oaklawn Park. The 4-year-old son of Gun Runner exits the 1 1/8-mile River City (G3) at Churchill where he found early trouble and wound up eighth, beaten four lengths, over a turf course rated good.
Another two-time Pegasus Turf-winning trainer with a pair of Fort Lauderdale starters is Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. Grand Sonata, most recently fourth in the River City, has won two of three starts on the grass at Gulfstream – the one-mile Dania Beach and 1 1/16-mile Kitten's Joy (G3) in succession in 2022. Jerry the Nipper is a six-time stakes-placed 6-year-old gelding, all against fellow New York-breds, most recently overcoming a late stumble to be fifth by two lengths in the one-mile Artie Schiller Nov. 12 at Aqueduct.
Trainer Chad Brown, who won the inaugural Pegasus Turf with eventual 2019 Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar, also entered two horses in Running Bee and Stone Age. Running Bee has put together two straight front-running wins though more than a year apart, returning from 13 months away with a 3 ¾-length optional claiming allowance triumph Nov. 17 at Aqueduct. Stone Age is a Group 3 winner in England that has made five previous North American starts, all in Grade 1 stakes, finishing third in the Belmont Derby and second in the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2022.
Monday
4:36 p.m. – Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Inveigled has been installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in a field of eight 2-year-olds following his eye-catching score at a mile three weeks ago. The Indiana-bred gelding stalked the early pace before making a three-wide move to the lead and drawing clear to win going away by 4 ¾ lengths under Irad Ortiz Jr. Trainer Jane Cibelli may have reason to dream big for the gelded son of Enticed.
Otello is rated second on the morning line at 3-1 on the basis of a promising debut score at Aqueduct Nov. 4. The Christophe Clement-trained son of Curlin rallied from fifth to get up by a neck while going a one-turn mile.
First World War will make his stakes debut on dirt, following a strong runner-up finish in an optional claiming allowance over Churchill Downs main track Nov. 9. The Brendan Walsh-trained colt had run twice previously on turf, winning his debut at Kentucky Downs Sept. 13 and finishing a close-up fourth in the Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland.
Boy Magic, undefeated in two starts, is slated to make his stakes debut in the Mucho Macho Man. The son of Good Magic won at first asking by 4 ¼ lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Delaware Park Aug. 24 before coming back a month later at Pimlico to win an optional claiming allowance over Catahoula Moon, who won the Maryland Million Nursery in his next start.
No More Time enters the Mucho Macho Man off an impressive debut victory at the one-turn distance at Gulfstream Oct. 23. The Jose D'Angelo-trained son of Not This Time, who finished second in his debut, attended the pace on the backstretch before pulling away to a 6 ¾-length victory.
Sea Streak, who was a beaten-favorite second behind Inveigled Dec. 9, returns in the Mucho Macho Man. Prior to his Gulfstream debut, the Eddie Owens Jr.-trained son of Sea Wizard scored a 4 ¾-length maiden special weight victory at Aqueduct.
5:14 p.m. – Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park
Lengthened from one mile to 1 1/16 miles since last season, the Smarty Jones offers 21 total points (10-5-3-2-1, respectively) to the top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby. Nine newly-turned 3-year-olds will take on this year's edition.
Just Steel exits a victory in the $225,500 Ed Brown Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs after two previous unsuccessful stakes starts in the G1 Hopeful at Saratoga and G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland. A son of Triple Crown winner Justify, Just Steel is trained by D. Wayne Lukas and owned by BC Stables. He was a $500,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Catching Freedom, a $575,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase for Albaugh Family Stables, had an extremely troubled trip last out as the even-money favorite in a 1 1/16-mile Churchill Downs allowance race on Nov. 9 for trainer Brad Cox. Ridden that day by Florent Geroux, the Constitution colt rallied from well off the pace, but ran into traffic problems at the top of the stretch and was bottled up for most of the stretch, seemingly full of run but with nowhere to go.
Informed Patriot and Gettysburg Address finished third and fourth, respectively, in the G3 Street Sense Stakes run over a sloppy track Oct. 29 at Churchill Downs. Cox has elected to take blinkers off Gettysburg Address, another son of Constitution who showed speed in the Street Sense but faltered in the final quarter mile. The Hard Spun colt Informed Patriot, trained by Steve Asmussen, subsequently finished third in an allowance race at Churchill Downs Nov. 25.
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