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Pegasus: Pairing With Harpers First Ride Is A ‘Dream Come True’ For Jockey Angel Cruz

After taking care of business at home, jockey Angel Cruz will head south to take part in the biggest race of his life.

Cruz, 25, is named on four horses when live racing returns Friday to Laurel Park – You Are Awesome in Race 3 and Seattle Ric in Race 9 for trainer Jerry Robb, Dream Happy in Race 5 for trainer Donald Barr, and Golden G in Race 8 for trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon.

Following the races, the Puerto Rico native and finalist for the 2014 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice will board a plane headed for Hallandale Beach, Fla., where he is named aboard Harpers First Ride in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

“I'm so happy. It's going to be my first time riding in a big race like this, like a big, known race,” Cruz said. “I've won big races, but this is going to be my biggest one. It's a $3 million race. I'm going to be riding against the top riders, and it's a dream come true.”

Cruz has ridden 5-year-old gelding Harpers First Ride in seven of his 17 lifetime starts including each of the last five, with five wins and a second. Four of the wins have come in stakes, led by the historic Pimlico Special (G3) Oct. 3 on the undercard of the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Together, Cruz and Harpers First Ride have also won the Deputed Testamony, Richard W. Small and Native Dancer, the latter at the World Cup's 1 1/8-mile distance. Trained by Laurel-based Claudio Gonzalez, Harpers First Ride was bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm.

“I love Harper. I have a lot of confidence in him, and he does in me,” Cruz said. “And Claudio, he has him ready. We're going ready to the Pegasus.”

Of his 538 career wins, three have come in graded-stakes. Besides Harpers First Ride, he won the Alcibiades (G1) with Dancing Rags and Sycamore (G3) with Renown in 2016 at Keeneland. Their respective trainers, Graham Motion and Elizabeth Voss, are both based in Maryland.

Cruz grew up in Puerto Rico with Eclipse Award-winning brothers Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz, coming to the U.S. at the age of 11. He won his first race on April 8, 2014 at Charles Town and also spent time riding in California and New York, where he captured Aqueduct's 2015 spring title.

Overall, Cruz ranked fifth with 64 wins at Maryland tracks in 2020. His uncle, Joel Hiraldo, and grandfather, Jose Hiraldo, were both jockeys, and his cousin, 19-year-old John Hiraldo, is currently a 10-pound apprentice at Laurel. Cruz is represented by agent Paul Plymire.

Harpers First Ride drew Post 8 in a field of 12 for the Pegasus World Cup, where he is listed at 10-1 on the morning line behind multiple Grade 1-winning favorite Knicks Go (5-2), another Maryland-bred. Harpers First Ride arrived at Gulfstream Jan. 11 and had a half-mile breeze over the main track Jan. 16. Gonzalez has been in Florida since Jan. 13.

“I think he'll love the weather. In the summer, when I first started riding him, he loved the weather,” Cruz said. “Gulfstream is a fast track. I think he's going to like it because there will be a lot of speed and it's going to play out for him, I think. Knicks Go and a couple of other horses have speed and I think Harpers is going to do really well over there. Claudio's going to have him ready. He'll be a good fit for that race.”

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‘If It’s Meant To Be, It’s Meant To Be’: Zayas Looking Forward To Pegasus Chances

Edgard Zayas is hardly a stranger to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle, where he has celebrated the vast majority of his 1,720 career victories while amassing numerous spring and summer riding titles since launching his career in 2012, as well as holding his own during the annual Championship Meet.

The 27-year-old Zayas, however, is doing much more than just holding his own while enjoying break-out success during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet.

After winning 18 and 29 races during the past two injury-interrupted seasons, Zayas has already ridden 42 winners, ranking fourth in the standings, just eight winners less than two-time defending Championship Meet titlist Irad Ortiz Jr.

“I have been blessed. I've been getting a lot of opportunities this meet. It's worked out perfect. Thankfully, I've been healthy the whole year, that's the main part of it,” Zayas said. “It's been 2, 2 ½ years since I've ridden this whole meet because of injuries. I've been getting a lot of support from owners, trainers and my agent.”

Zayas' greater opportunities include mounts in both the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He has the call on Grade 1 winner Math Wizard in the Pegasus and 2020 Del Mar Derby (G2) winner Pixelate in the Pegasus Turf.

“The Pegasus, riding here year-round, is a race I've been really wanting to ride in,” Zayas said. “I've been blessed this year, riding in both – both on horses with a very good shot. I'm just hoping for the best.”

Although still young, Zayas has benefited from nearly a decade of riding since leaving his home in Puerto Rico for South Florida in 2012.

“I think I've grown a lot through the years after all the ups and downs and injuries. Things that happened in my career I've learned a lot from,” Zayas said. “I've always said, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.' I've been riding with a lot of confidence, not getting the horses out of their pace, riding the way the race comes up, and trying to be smarter.”

Zayas left Puerto Rico's Esquela Vocational Hipica riding school two months before graduation to get the jump on his classmates to start his career and moved directly to South Florida. Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero took him under his wing and worked with him every day of the 2012-2013 Championship Meet. He continues to learn the art of riding Thoroughbreds from Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.

“As a bug boy, Angel really helped me out that first year. Now, I have Edgar Prado in my corner every day. He's not riding as much now, but he has the experience of being a Hall of Fame rider and winning so many races,” Zayas said. “To this day, it doesn't matter if I win race, he'll tell me what I did wrong. That really helps a lot. Every time I'm riding a race, he's always watching. I'll text him and ask, 'What do you think of this race?' He always tells me his opinion.”

Prado, who is riding year-round in South Florida, has been only too happy to impart his knowledge on Zayas.

“He's a good rider and a good kid, and he's willing to learn,” Prado said. “I'm willing to help anyone who listens. I concentrate on the ones who want to learn. We've changed some things, and he's applied them, and it's working out.”

Zayas also credits the years riding alongside the best riders in the country during past Championship Meets with helping him refine his riding style.

“Watching them, how they ride and how patient they ride. Watching them ride and how they get there and how they make their horses run, has definitely made a big difference,” he said. “Every day you learn, no matter how many years you've been riding.”

Zayas has been enjoying success while balancing his career and his family life. He and wife, Ashley, the proud parents of soon-to-be-4 Lilly, recently welcomed little sister Lilah to the family.

“I'll come home from the races, and I'll sit there at dinner and I'm on my iPad watching the races. Ashley will tell me, 'Put that down,'” Zayas said with a chuckle. “It's hard to balance. On my off days, I try to get away from horse racing and dedicate my time to them. When it's racing time, it's business time. They're a big part of my life and have really helped me mature.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed pressure on his career as well as his family life.

“This year has been very challenging for everyone. Not working horses has been a little challenging, especially when the 2-year-old season started. You don't know what kind of horses you're riding. You only know what the trainer tells you,” said Zayas, referring to the protocols that restrict jockeys from entering the backstretch. “It's been challenging, but we've been very blessed at Gulfstream. They've done a very good job of keeping us running year-round without stopping. We've had no problems.”

No matter how many races he wins in the future, Zayas' resume will always have a nagging void until he can call himself a winning jockey in Puerto Rico.

“I left the jockey school two months earlier and came straight here to Florida, so I never got to ride in Puerto Rico. I went back one day and rode a couple races there, but I still haven't won a race there,” he said. “It bothers me a little bit. Eventually, I'll get back there and win a race someday. It's something that you grew up around and you need it.”

For now, Zayas will keep his focus on continuing his success during the Championship Meet in Saturday's Pegasus and Pegasus Turf.

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Maker Hopes ‘Old Class Horse,’ Former Claimer Aquaphobia Steps Up In Pegasus Turf

The day after trainer Mike Maker won last year's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf (G1) with Zulu Alpha, the groundwork was laid for one of his 2021 runners – United Nations (G1) winner Aquaphobia.

Zulu Alpha and Aquaphobia are among six former claiming horses that have gone on to win Grade 1 races for Maker. The trainer also is running the stakes-winning, Grade 1-placed Cross Border in Saturday's 1 3/16-mile Pegasus Turf at Gulfstream Park. That 7-year-old horse was purchased by Three Diamonds Farm at auction in 2018 but before then was running in $40,000 claiming races.

Maker didn't spend much time basking in the glory of Zulu Alpha's Pegasus Turf victory. He was on a plane the next morning to Houston, where he was running Paradise Farms Corp.'s Bemma's Boy in the John B. Connally (G3).

Bemma's Boy finished second, but Paradise Farms owner Peter Proscia and Maker still scored big that day. As they were at Sam Houston Race Park handicapping races at various tracks, Proscia saw a horse he liked in an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option at Gulfstream Park that afternoon. Maker was well familiar with the horse, the then 7-year-old Aquaphobia. He'd tried to claim the horse for Zulu Alpha's owner Michael Hui for $25,000 in 2017. They lost the shake that day, but the trainer kept up with the horse.

“We were at Sam Houston, sitting around a table, and he decided to claim him,” Maker said of Proscia. “He was an old class horse that we'd actually had our eyes on for a long time.”

“Basically I'm a speed handicapper and I also watch the replays,” Proscia said. “We have a good group of guys we bounce it off, but the ultimate decision is Mike's…. He knew the horse. I liked the horse, even though he was on the older side, (but) Mike has been doing very well with older, longer turf horses and getting the best out of them.”

Maker's Gulfstream team executed the claim. Aquaphobia finished fourth at odds of 32-1, but none of that bothered Proscia. Aquaphobia now is owned by four of Maker's stalwart owners: Proscia, David Staudacher, Hooties Racing and Skychai Racing.

“There's no one gamer,” Maker said with an appreciative laugh of Proscia's willingness to go in for high-priced claiming horses. “He keeps money in the account. He's ready to pull the trigger before the entries come out.”

Proscia, who is in the marine fuel business, met Maker a few years ago after he claimed one of the trainer's horses twice, with Maker claiming it back in between. When Proscia wasn't having much luck with the horse the second time around, a friend who knew Maker suggested sending the horse back to the trainer.

“I called him up and asked if it would be OK,” Proscia said. “It didn't work out that well; the horse got hurt. But those things happen. It wasn't his fault. I ended up buying a 2-year-old with him at a sale, and we started to claim a couple. Next thing you know, here we are today. It's been a good run, and I hope it continues.”

They won Gulfstream Park's Old Man Eloquent Stakes in their first start with Aquaphobia, then had a pair of fourths in Grade 2 races in their subsequent three races before taking Monmouth Park's United Nations. Aquaphobia is Proscia's first Grade 1 winner and one of three graded-stakes winners. He joins $30,000 claim Bemma's Boy, who in his next start after the Connally won Gulfstream' Kitten's Joy Pan American (G3), and Keeneland's Valley View (G3) winner Stunning Sky, who was claimed out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race.

“He sees something in the past performances and the replays, and together with the speed figures, you put it all together and say, 'This horse has potential,'” Proscia said of Maker. “Then he has a training methodology that he does, and I give a lot of credit to his help and his staff. And Mike's got the patience.”

Zulu Alpha, an $80,000 claim, came into his Pegasus off a victory in Kentucky Downs' $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup (G3) and a good fourth in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). In his three races since the United Nations, Aquaphobia was a distant third over soft turf in Saratoga's Sword Dancer (G1), seventh in Keeneland's Sycamore (G3) and sixth by a total of only two lengths in Aqueduct's Red Smith (G3).

“His last race was good,” Maker said. “He got beat a couple of a lengths with a wide trip, so it wasn't bad. At Keeneland, I think he was a little closer (early in the race) than we would have liked for him to be. Having said that, I think he'll appreciate a firmer course like Gulfstream has. And I really think he'll like the distance.

“Zulu had a better resume,” he added. “Though he wasn't yet a Grade 1 winner, he'd won more races than Aquaphobia. Aquaphobia has the Grade 1 United Nations to his credit. It's a big difference.”

Aquaphobia, who drew post 7 in the field of 12 for the Pegasus Turf, is 20-1 in the morning line. He's being reunited with Joe Bravo, whose 2-for-3 record on the horse includes the United Nations and Aquaphobia's first stakes victory as a 3-year-old.

After his purchase by Three Diamonds at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's July Selected Horses of Racing Age sale, the New York-bred Cross Border did not race for almost a year. His 16 subsequent races for Three Diamonds and Maker include four wins, five seconds and a third, including victory in a New York-bred stakes, a second in the Sword Dancer (G1) and most recently a second by a head in the Fair Grounds' Buddy Diliberto Memorial.

Cross Border is 15-1 in the morning line and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione.

“He's won from 6 1/2 (furlongs) to a mile and a half for us,” Maker said. “Just a very versatile horse. You can place him wherever you need him. He's just a real quality horse.”

As for Zulu Alpha, he has been sidelined with a leg injury but is expected to resume racing later this year, Hui said.

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Centennial Farms To Sponsor TAA Best Turned Out Awards During Pegasus World Cup Card

Centennial Farms will sponsor the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Best Turned Out Horse Awards during the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Card Jan. 23, 2021 at Gulfstream Park. This is the third year in a row that Centennial has sponsored the awards.

Centennial Farms, an ownership group with more than 30 years of experience operating elite Thoroughbred racing partnerships, will sponsor the cash prize and gift bag to be given to the winning groom of the Best Turned Out Horse for eight races on the card.

TAA and Centennial Farms representatives will select the horse in each race that is deemed to be the best presented, and that horse's groom will receive a gift bag and cash prize. The TAA and Centennial Farms will promote the winners on their social media platforms, and the winning groom will be mentioned on the live simulcast feed.

“We are honored to again partner with and support the great work of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, an outstanding leader in aftercare for our industry,” said Don Little, President of Centennial Farms. “Everyone at Centennial feels very strongly about the lifelong commitment to our horses and ensuring they have a secure home when their racing days are over. This period of unprecedented challenges has affected all aspects of racing and aftercare, from daily life on the backstretch to the ability of organizations like TAA to thrive. We are thrilled to help shine a well-deserved spotlight on just some of the grooms who have continued to work so hard each day to help these magnificent athletes reach their potential.”

Centennial Farms was the sponsor for the TAA Best Turned Out Horse Awards at the Pegasus World Cup in 2019 and 2020, with Little personally selecting the winners.

The TAA is a charity partner for the Pegasus World Cup.

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