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Pegasus Start ‘Under Consideration’ For Classic Third Global Campaign

Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm's Global Campaign will stand stud at WinStar next year, but the third place finisher in last weekend's Breeders' Cup Classic could first be pointed to the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 23, reports drf.com.

The 4-year-old son of Curlin was bred by WinStar out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot, making him the half-brother to Spendthrift sire Bolt d'Oro. Trained by Stanley Hough, Global Campaign won the G3 Peter Pan Stakes as a 3-year-old, and this year won the G3 Monmouth Cup and the G1 Woodward. His record stands at six wins from 10 starts for earnings of $1,321,080.

“The Pegasus is something that's definitely under consideration,” Hunter Rankin, president of Sagamore Farm, told drf.com. Global Campaign will spend the next week or so at WinStar for inspections, then return to Hough's stable.

Sagamore Farm announced a dispersal of all its equine stock last week.

Following the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland, another horse reported to be under consideration for the 2021 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park is Belmont Stakes winner and Classic disappointment Tiz the Law.

Breeders’ Cup Contenders Arrive at WinStar Farm

LEXINGTON,KY– Just over 12 hours after the trio’s contention for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Improbable (City Zip), Global Campaign (Curlin) and Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) made the short trip from Keeneland to WinStar Farm, where they will soon take up stud duty for the 2021 breeding season.

“We’re really excited with Improbable, Global Campaign and Tom’s d’Etat coming to the stallion barn,” said WinStar’s Elliott Walden. “They all look good-their color was good, they didn’t look too drawn up and they got off the van and acted like they’d been here their whole life.”

One member of the trio-Global Campaign-may not yet be done with his racetrack career, as Walden hinted he could be pointed for the January 23 $3 million GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

“We’re considering running him back in the Pegasus,” he said. “We’re going to leave him here for 10 days and evaluate him. I felt like he ran well enough in the Classic to merit that and add a bit more to his resume. So we’re going to watch for 10 days and we might send him back to [trainer] Stanley [Hough] and run him in the Pegasus.”

Global Campaign is a homebred for WinStar Farm out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. He’s been campaigned by WinStar in partnership with Sagamore Farm over his two-year career, and scored graded stakes wins in the GIII Monmouth Cup S. and the GI Woodward H.

“He’s a horse that we raised out of a great mare that is also the dam of Grade I winner Bolt d’Oro (Medaglia d’Oro) and stakes winner Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor),” Walden said. “His race record has a high winning percentage, and to win the Woodward this year is really exciting as well.”

Global Campaign ran third in the Breeders’ Cup grand finale, while Improbable ran second behind his Bob Baffert stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief). Tom’s d’Etat could not overcome a troubled start and finished ninth.

“It didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted, but we’re very proud of Improbable and Global Campaign’s efforts,” Walden said. “I think Tom’s d’Etat may have been just a little bit over the top at age seven, but we’re excited about the next chapter for all of them.”

The seven-year-old Tom’s d’Etat has been a winner each year of his five-year career for trainer Al Stall, and this season the veteran won the Oaklawn Mile S. and the GII Stephen Foster S.

“Tom’s d’Etat is a very high-class horse by Smart Strike out of the family of Candy Ride (Arg). His numbers over the last three years, every time we looked at stallion prospects, his numbers would stand out. He is a phenomenal specimen, good length and great movement. I loved the way he moved on the racetrack, loved the way he is so level and could change gears and get there in a hurry. When we made the offer to buy him, [current WinStar stallions] Distorted Humor and Speightstown came to mind. Distorted Humor came to stud at age six and Speightstown was seven. So if he can turn out to be half of what they are, we’ll be in great shape.”

Improbable had a stand-out four-year-old season in 2020, collecting three consecutive Grade I races in the Hollywood Gold Cup S., Whitney S., and Awesome Again S.

“We’re really excited about Improbable,” Walden said. “The balance and size that he has is going to make him a really great fit for a lot of mares. He’s full of quality and he has great motion. All of those things that I think are important as we think about soundness and consistency, Improbable had all of that.”

Improbable’s stud fee is currently set at $40,000, although subject to change, while Tom’s d’Etat and Global Campaign’s stud fees have not yet been announced.

The trio will join Grade I-winning millionaire Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) as WinStar’s freshman sires for the upcoming season.

“We’re really excited with all three of them,” Walden said. “To add them to Promises Fulfilled, who we retired earlier in the year, we couldn’t be more excited by our stallions we’re bringing to WinStar this year.”

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Global Campaign Remains Under Pegasus World Cup Consideration After Breeders’ Cup Classic Third

Grade 1 winner Global Campaign was aboard a van to WinStar Farm Sunday morning with Improbable and Tom's d'Etat, each with plans to enter stud at the Versailles, Ky., farm in 2021. Unlike the others, though, Global Campaign's first steps off the trailer might end up being for a layover instead of a final destination.

Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager, said the 4-year-old Curlin colt will be assessed during his time at the farm, and he could return to the barn of trainer Stanley Hough in seven to 10 days to prepare for a final start in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 23. Though the final decision will be made following the assessment period, Walden said he was “leaning that way” toward sending him back into training.

Global Campaign finished third in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland on Saturday, capping off a 2020 campaign that has included wins in the G1 Woodward Handicap and G3 Monmouth Stakes. WinStar bred the colt, and owns him in partnership with Sagamore Racing.

Walden said Global Campaign's connections entered the Classic with different long-term plans depending on his performance in the race. He also said the early shape of the potential Pegasus field might play well into the upward trajectory of Global Campaign's development.

“If he'd won the Classic, he'd probably been retired, if he'd ran poorly, he'd be retired, but if he ran a good race without winning, we would consider the possibility [of the Pegasus], and that's exactly what happened,” he said. “With Improbable retiring, and I don't know what Authentic's going to do, but he showed himself [in the Classic]. That was a deep, deep Classic field, one of the deepest we've had in a long time. Global Campaign really ran well. Stan Hough told me he was going to run well, told me he was going to outrun his odds.”

Should Global Campaign be given the green light to try for the Pegasus, Walden said he would join Hough's barn wherever he's needed, most likely going to Palm Meadows Training Center in south Florida.

Global Campaign has won six of 10 career starts for earnings of $1,321,080, also including last year's G2 Peter Pan Stakes.

“He's had a big year,” Walden said. “He's won three out of five, with a win in the Woodward and he won going seven-eighths (an optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park on April 25). When he ran the first start of the year in that seven-eighths allowance race, and he ran extremely fast, that's when we said we wanted to stand him, no matter what happens. We made a deal with Kevin [Plank, owner of Sagamore Racing] to do that. We'd owned a piece of him, but we bought up to make that happen.”

Global Campaign's 2021 stud fee is still to be determined.

The post Global Campaign Remains Under Pegasus World Cup Consideration After Breeders’ Cup Classic Third appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Horse of the Year, Championships, Up for Grabs in Breeders’ Cup

In an atypical year for horse racing in which COVID-19 has played havoc on just about everything, it will be a typical Breeders’ Cup Saturday, at least on the racetrack. Including also-eligibles, 104 horses have been entered to contest the nine races that will be offered and the list includes a who’s who of the best horses not just in North America but in the world.

Between the two days of racing, the Breeders’ Cup could decide every Eclipse Award race but the 3-year-old filly championship, where Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) is heavily favored.

“That’s what the Breeders’ Cup is about,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “The cream comes to the top.”

The Keeneland card begins at 10:15 am with the Perryville Stakes. The first Breeders’ Cup race will be the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, which is set to go off at 12:02 pm. Television coverage will begin at noon on NBCSN. At 2:30, NBC will pick up coverage, with the show concluding at 5:30. It appears that the weather will be ideal. The Saturday forecast for Lexington is calling for sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-seventies.

Friday’s late news included the announcement that jockey Christophe Soumillon had tested positive for COVID-19 and will be off his mounts.

Back in March, when the coronavirus began to upend life as we know it, holding events like the Triple Crown races or the Breeders’ Cup was less than certain. By early summer, most major racetracks had resumed racing, but it was not quite the same. For the most part, fans were not allowed to attend and most tracks had to enact healthy purse cuts, especially when it came to their stakes schedules.

The Triple Crown races were held without fans in the stands and the Breeders’ Cup has been forced to do the same. Owners and breeders will be permitted to attend.
“Without the fans, it didn’t seem like the Derby until the gate came open,” Baffert said. “The Classic won’t feel like the Classic until the gate comes open, not without any fans here.”
For the fifth straight year, the Classic purse will be $6 million. Without fans on track, this Breeders’ Cup will bring in less revenue than a normal one, but the Breeders’ Cup team has managed to put on the event without reducing any of the purses.

By the end of the card, after the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, scheduled to go off at 5:18, the championship picture should be a lot more clear than it was entering the day. No horse has put any distance between itself and the rest of the field when it comes to Horse of the Year, but at least four or five horses could claim the title with a Breeders’ Cup victory.

The lists starts with Baffert’s Classic starters. Authentic (Into Mischief), the winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, and Improbable (City Zip), a winner of three straight Grade I races, would be considered top candidates for year-end honors with a win. His third Classic starter, Maximum Security (New Year’s Day), would also be part of the mix if he can pull off a victory in the Classic.

“The Classic horses are three pretty powerful horses,” Baffert said. “We’ve got a Derby winner, a 3-year-old champion and Improbable has won his last [three] races in great fashion. I’ve never been this strong before in the Classic. Usually, I’d be happy to have just one of those in the Classic. To have three is pretty amazing.”

Improbable is the morning-line favorite at 5-2 and Maximum Security is the third choice in the line at 7-2. Sitting between the two is Tiz the Law (Constitution). He is still another horse that could wrap up Horse of the Year with a win. That would also put him in the lead for the 3-year-old male title, a race that has come down to Tiz the Law and Authentic.

In a race that also includes Grade I winners Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro) and Global Campaign (Curlin), separating the field is as tough a handicapping puzzle as there is. The race could come down to who gets the trip and who is having the best day.

“This is a tough, tough race,” said Barclay Tagg, the trainer of Tiz the Law.

The Horse of the Year race also includes Swiss Skydiver, whose showdown with Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff makes that race another highlight of the afternoon. Swiss Skydiver has had a remarkable campaign that includes a win over males in the GI Preakness S. Should she win the Distaff and the Classic is won by a longshot, she would be in good position to be named Horse of the Year. And, regardless of the outcome of the Classic, some voters may decide to reward her for what has truly been a January-to-November campaign that is a rarity in the modern era.

But first, she must beat Monomoy Girl. The 5-year-old mare who won the 2018 Distaff only to miss all of her 4-year-old season, could not have come back better. Patiently handled by trainer Brad Cox with the Distaff in mind, she is 3-for-3 on the year and is coming off a win in the GI La Troienne S. With her perfect 2020, she has won 12 of 14 career starts and crossed the wire first in 13 of them.

Cox–poised with a strong hand this year and already with two winners on Friday–has been raving about how well his filly is doing, saying she is better now than when she won the Distaff two years ago.

“She’s definitely got her game face on,” Cox said. “Anyone watching her train this week could see that. It’s been very forward and she’s put a lot into her gallops. She is ready. Her coat is great, she looks good and we are real pleased with where she is physically.”

Robby Albarado, who will have the mount on Swiss Skydiver, reports that his filly is also thriving coming into the Distaff.

“I want to say she’s doing as good if not better than she was at Pimlico [for the Preakness],” he said. “She’s moving really well. She’s very confident. She’s so smart about everything. She knows where she’s at and what she has to do.”

The Filly & Mare Sprint will kick things off with another race that should decide a championship. The leading contenders for the Champion Female Sprinter are all in this race, including Gamine (Into Mischief) and Serengeti Empress (Alternation). Both are fast fillies and their riders, John Velazquez and Luis Saez, will have to figure out how to avoid a costly speed duel.

Just a few of the highlights on what figures to be a great day of racing near the end of a very long year.

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