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Cross Border Faces Seven in Pan American

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border (English Channel), a late-closing third behind Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) in the Jan. 23 GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, will try to take advantage of that foe's absence and some extra real estate when he goes postward in the 1 1/2-mile GII Pan American S. at Gulfstream Park Saturday.

“He ran another big race last time and was flattered the other day by Colonel Liam,” trainer Mike Maker said. “We expect another strong effort from him.”

Colonel Liam returned from the Pegasus to win the GII Muniz Memorial Classic S. at Fair Grounds last weekend.

Cross Border was second over the Gulfstream course in last year's 1 1/2-mile GIII W. L. McKnight S. and inherited his first graded win when Sadler's Joy (Kitten's Joy) was disqualified from the victory in the GII Bowling Green S. at Saratoga last summer.

“He's run well here, but he shows up everywhere,” Maker said. “He's a horse that never disappoints and loves his job.”

Sadler's Joy will need to snap a nine-race losing streak if he is to win his second Pan American Saturday. The 8-year-old veteran earned his first graded victory in that race in 2017. He was most recently fourth in the Jan. 23 McKnight.

“He's doing as well as ever, so hopefully we'll get another good trip out of him and go from there,” trainer Tom Albertrani said. “We just keep him on a regular routine, training-wise. You look at his work tab and you don't see the fancy, fast works or anything; just normal, kind of routine works just to keep him ticking over between races.”

Last year, Sadler's Joy went 0-for-8 with third-place finishes in the GII Mac Diarmida S. at Gulfstream and GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and GI Manhattan S. at Belmont Park. He was disqualified from first to fourth for interference in the Bowling Green.

“If he wasn't in the barn, it'd be pretty strange. When that day comes, it's going to be a sad day when we don't see him walking down the shedrow anymore,” Albertrani said. “He's just been one of those types of horses that tries every race. He puts everything into every time he runs and its' just a pleasure having a horse like that.”

Trainer Bill Mott will be seeking his seventh Pan American win when he saddles Summer Wind Equine's Moon Over Miami (Malibu Moon). The 4-year-old is coming off a troubled third-place finish in the Feb. 27 Mac Diarmida.

“His last race was a mile and three-eighths and he was finishing up very well when he finally got out, which was a little late in the game,” Mott said. “He came running and got up for third and deserves a chance in the Pan American. I think he's going to turn into a useful horse going that trip.”

Moon Over Malibu won the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Ground Derby last September at Kentucky Downs.

“We stretched him out at Kentucky Downs last fall in their derby and he won that,” Mott said. “That was a little longer race. He doesn't seem to run the turns real well, so it seems like the slower pace of the longer races helps him get around the turns a little better.”

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Colonel Liam Headlines Muniz

GI Pegasus World Cup Turf S. winner Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) looms the one to beat in Saturday's GII Mervin Muniz Memorial S. at the Fair Grounds. Breaking his maiden on dirt via DQ in his career bow at Gulfstream last April, the $1.2-million OBS April topper was third next out in the slop there before switching to the grass, winning a Saratoga allowance in July. Fourth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational S. in August, the gray captured the Tropical Park Derby back in Hallandale Dec. 26 and followed suit with a late-rallying defeat of stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) in the Pegasus Turf last out Jan. 23.

The third-place finisher from that event Cross Border (English Channel) also returns here. Dominant winner of Saratoga's Lubash S. last summer, the dark bay was second in both the GII Bowling Green S. and GI Sword Dancer S. at the Spa in August. Off the board in Belmont's GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational S. in October, he was third in the Mohawk S. there three weeks later and missed by a head to Logical Myth (Data Link) in the Dilberto Memorial S. Dec. 19.

Four of the top five finishers from the Feb. 13 GIII Fair Grounds S. return here, topped by winner Captivating Moon (Malibu Moon). Prior to that 43-1 upset, he had not seen the winner's circle since December of 2019. Logical Myth was second in the Fair Grounds with Peace Achieved (Declaration of War) in third and last year's Muniz winner Factor This (The Factor) in fifth.

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Colonel Liam Marches To Pegasus Turf Tally

The 2020 campaign of Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) picked up steam as it rolled along and the athletic gray colt picked up where he left off Saturday, as he found his way out of a jackpot and into the clear with time ticking away in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf and outfinished stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) to win the $1-million event. Cross Border (English Channel) rounded out the trifecta, while the outposted Social Paranoia (Street Boss) completed a 1-2-4 finish for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Off as the 5-2 chalk while making his 4-year-old debut, the $50,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $1.2-million OBS April breezer (:20 4/5) took up a ground-saving position from midfield, three back on the fence, as Eclipse Award-winning juvenile Storm the Court (Court Vision) set a moderate pace in advance of Southern California raider Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy). Largent was able to secure the box seat from his low draw and Colonel Liam raced on that stablemate's back turning into the backstretch before settling into the two path for the run past the half-mile pole. Still traveling well approaching the stretch as he raced in the slipstream of 52-1 Pixelate (City Zip), he was boldly swung out by Irad Ortiz, Jr. five deep and around Social Paranoia in upper stretch, looked to perhaps brush with that rival nearing the eighth pole and outfought Largent to the wire.

Colonel Liam was something other than an abject failure on the dirt, finishing second and third, respectively, in his first two career starts over this main track, but looked a different proposition altogether when racing away to a 2 3/4-length allowance win trying the grass for the first time at Saratoga July 22. Fourth, beaten 3/4 of a length to the far more experienced Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Gufo (Declaration of War) in the Saratoga Derby Invitational at the Spa in mid-August, Colonel Liam resumed from a four-month freshening to dominate this track's Tropical Park Derby Dec. 26.

“We really were [confident],” Pletcher commented. “He showed us a lot of ability in his couple of starts on the grass. We felt like he was getting better and better. We loved the way he handled the turf in the Tropical Derby and he had trained great. We were very optimistic, He's a little less experienced than some of the other horses, but I think this proves his quality.”

Pedigree Notes:

Colonel Liam is the fourth graded winner and third Grade I winner for Liam's Map and is bred on the same cross as 'TDN Rising Star' Wicked Whisper. He is the 11th Grade I winner out of a daughter of top broodmare sire Bernardini. Colonel Liam is one of two winners from four to the races for his dam, an unraced daughter of the Phillipses MGISW turf distaffer Wonder Again, whose full-brother Grass Wonder was the champion 2-year-old of his generation in Japan and later won the Takarazuka Kinen over 2200 meters (11 furlongs) and the 2500-meter (12.5-furlong) Arima Kinen on two occasions before embarking on a stud career. This is also the same female family responsible for GSW Hopeful Growth (Tapiture). Amazement is the dam of Colonel Liam's 3-year-old half-sister Lovely Dee (Shackleford), a juvenile colt by Tapiture and a yearling colt by the late Arrogate, like Liam's Map a son of Unbridled's Song. She most recently visited Copper Bullet (More Than Ready).

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
PEGASUS WORLD CUP TURF INVITATIONAL S.-GI, $981,700, Gulfstream, 1-23, 4yo/up, 1 3/16mT, 1:53.09, fm.
1–COLONEL LIAM, 123, c, 4, by Liam's Map
1st Dam: Amazement, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Wonder Again, by Silver Hawk
3rd Dam: Ameriflora, by Danzig
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($50,000 Ylg '18
KEESEP; $1,200,000 2yo '19 OBSAPR). O-Lawana L. & Robert E.
Low; B-Phillips Racing Partnership (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher;
J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $549,000. Lifetime Record: 6-4-0-1, $690,965.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Largent, 123, g, 5, Into Mischief–Life in Seattle, by Unbridled.
($460,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC
& Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Lazy Lane Farms, LLC.
(VA); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $183,000.
3–Cross Border, 123, r, 7, English Channel–Empress Josephine,
by Empire Maker. ($180,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP; $10,000 2yo '16
OBSOPN; $100,000 4yo '18 FTKHRA). O-Three Diamonds Farm;
B-Berkshire Stud & B. D. Gibbs (NY); T-Michael J. Maker.
$91,500.
Margins: NK, 2, HF. Odds: 2.50, 4.20, 14.00.
Also Ran: Social Paranoia, Pixelate, Next Shares, Storm the Court, Aquaphobia, Breaking the Rules, North Dakota, Say the Word, Anothertwistafate.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Pletcher Lands Three, McGaughey Two On Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitation List

Grade 1 winners Say the Word and Storm the Court, and three stakes winners from the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher, lead a list of 16 horses invited Sunday to the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The third running of the 1 3/16-mile Pegasus World Cup Turf, introduced in 2019 to serve as a companion race to the $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), will be run Jan. 23. The Pegasus Turf has been won previously by eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (2019) and Zulu Alpha (2020).

The Pegasus World Cup Turf and Pegasus World Cup will be part of an extraordinary program featuring seven graded stakes, four contested on the turf. Stakes on Pegasus Day will also include the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), $125,000 William L. McKnight (G3), $125,000 Marshua's River (G3), $125,000 La Prevoyante (G3) and $125,000 Fred Hooper (G3).

The 12 horses given first preference for the Pegasus World Cup Turf are (in alphabetical order):

Anothertwistafate – Owned by Peter Redekop B.C., Ltd. Trained by Peter Miller
Breaking the Rules – Owned by Phipps Stables. Trained by Shug McGaughey
Colonel Liam – Owner by Robert and Lawana Low. Trained by Todd Pletcher
Cross Border – Owned by Three Diamonds Farm. Trained by Mike Maker
Doswell – Owned by Joseph Allen LLC. Trained by Barclay Tagg
Largent – Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Trained by Todd Pletcher
North Dakota – Owned by Allen Stable Inc. Trained by Shug McGaughey
Pixelate – Owned by Godolphin, LLC. Trained by Michael Stidham
Say the Word – Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm. Trained by Philip D'Amato
Sharp Samurai – Owned by Owned by Red Baron's Barn LLC, Rancho Temescal LLC, Mark Glatt. Trained by Mark Glatt
Social Paranoia – Owned by The Elkstone Group, LLC. Trained by Todd Pletcher
Storm the Court – Owned by Exline-Border Racing, LLC, David Bernsen LLC, Susanna Wilson and Dan Hudock. Trained by Peter Eurton

The also eligible horses (in order of preference):

Next Shares – Owned by Debby Baltas, Richard Baltas, Christopher Dunn, Jules Iavarone, Michael Iavarone, Jerry McClanahan, Ritchie Robershaw, Mark Taylor. Trained by Richard Baltas.
Field Pass – Owned by Three Diamonds Farm. Trained by Mike Maker
Analyze It – Owned by William H. Lawrence. Trained by Chad Brown
Greyes Creek – Owned by OXO Equine LLC. Trained by Chad Brown

Limited seating is available and tickets can be purchased at Pegasusworldcup.com.

Fans can watch and wager on the Pegasus World Cup at 1stbet.com and xpressbet.com.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of 16 of the past 17 Championship Meet titles at Gulfstream Park, has an intriguing trio of contenders for the Turf in Largent, Social Paranoia and Colonel Liam.

Largent is an improving son of Into Mischief who enters the Pegasus off a victory Dec. 12 in the Fort Lauderdale (G2). The gelding has won six of nine career starts and has won four of his five starts at Gulfstream.

Pletcher-trained Social Paranoia, a 4-year-old son of Street Boss, prepped for the Pegasus at Gulfstream Dec. 16 by winning an allowance optional claiming event off a five-month layoff. Social Paranoia earlier in the year won the Appleton (G3) at Gulfstream.

Pletcher's third entry is the lightly raced Colonel Liam, a 4-year-old son of Liam's Map who enters the Pegasus off an impressive 3 ¼-length victory Dec. 26 in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Barclay Tagg, who trained the recently retired Tiz the Law to victories in last year's Florida Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers (G1), comes into the Turf with Doswell. The lightly raced 6-year-old raced only once as a 2-year-old. The son of Giant's Causeway broke his maiden as a 5-year-old and ended 2020 with a second-place finish behind Largent in the Fort Lauderdale.

It took seven races for North Dakota to win his first race, but the Shug McGaughey-trained 5-year-old has since won three of five races with his last being the Nov. 21 Red Smith (G3) at Aqueduct. McGaughey will also send out Breaking the Rules, a 6-year-old son of War Front who comes off a fourth-place finish in the Knickerbocker (G2) in October and a third-place finish in the Fort Lauderdale (G2).

Say the Word, a 6-year-old Ontario-bred by More Than Ready, enters off a third-place finish Nov. 27 in the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) for trainer Philip D'Amato after winning the Northern Dancer Turf (G1) in October at Woodbine. The gelding finished fourth in his only other race at Gulfstream, that coming in 2018.

Storm the Court ships in from Santa Anita for trainer Peter Eurton. Winner of the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), the son of Court Vision was sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) last year before moving to turf and finishing seventh in the Hollywood Derby (G1) and second last time out in the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2)

Cross Border will attempt to give trainer Mike Maker back-to-back wins in the Pegasus Turf after saddling last year's winner, Zulu Alpha. The 7-year-old son of English Channel was second in last year's Sword Dancer (G1) and won the Bowling Green (G2), both at Saratoga. He comes into the Pegasus off a second-place finish in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.

Sharp Samurai was beaten a nose by Jesus' Team for the place in the Breeders' Cup Mile. The 7-year-old gelding, based at Santa Anita with trainer Mark Glatt, was second last year in the Pacific Classic (G1), Eddie Read (G2) and City of Hope (G2). His last victory was the 2018 City of Hope. Sharp Samurai is also on the invitation list for the Pegasus.

Pixelate, trained by Michael Stidham, comes into the Pegasus off a victory Dec. 26 in the Woodchopper at Fair Grounds. The Godolphin homebred and son of City Zip won the Del Mar Derby (G2) in September and was fifth in the Belmont Derby (G1) in October.

Anothertwistafate, winner Jan. 2 of the San Gabriel (G2) at Santa Anita and Sept. 10 Longacres Mile (G3), is invited to the Turf and is on the reserve inviation list for the Pegasus.

The Pegasus Turf also-eligible list is led by Next Shares, who will try to make his third trip to the Pegasus Turf the charm after a seventh-place finish in the 2019 edition and a 12^th place finish last year. The 8-year-old would enter this year's event off a third-place finish Jan. 2 in the San Gabriel.

The reserve invitation list also includes Field Pass. The Ontario Derby (G3) winner is trained by Mike Maker, who saddled last year's Pegasus Turf winner Zulu Alpha. Trainer Chad Brown, who won the inaugural Pegasus Turf with Bricks and Mortar, has two on the reserve list in Red Bank (G3) winner Analyze Itand OXO Equine's Greyes Creek.

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