Pegasus Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Quirky’ Weyburn Breezes Seven Furlongs In Preparation For Pennsylvania Derby

Chiefswood Stables' Weyburn, winner of the one-mile Grade 3 Gotham in March at Aqueduct Racetrack, breezed seven furlongs in 1:31.73 Friday on the Belmont training track in preparation for a start in next Saturday's nine-furlong Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, Friday's breeze followed up on a bullet five-eighths in 59.63 last Friday on the training track.

“He did well. We just wanted to give him a little stamina today,” Jerkens said. “He worked really fast last week and we didn't want to do that again. I was happy with how he did it.”

The Ontario homebred son of Pioneerof the Nile finished fourth in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April at the Big A and followed two months later with a close second to Grade 1 Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus on June 13 at Monmouth.

Last out, the dark bay colt tracked the pace from third in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31 at the Spa, but failed to make up ground in the stretch run finishing fourth.

Jerkens said Weyburn, a resurgent Gotham winner under Trevor McCarthy off a three-month layoff, is at his best racing fresh.

“He's got a lot of talent. He's just a little quirky,” Jerkens said. “His two best races – the Gotham and the Pegasus – he had two to three months between starts.”

Paco Lopez will pilot the quirky colt for the first time and Jerkens said the veteran rider will need to keep Weyburn to task.

“He wants to be forwardly placed and then you have to get after him. He'll spit the bit after he's run a long ways and you have to try and beat him to the punch a little bit,” Jerkens said. “Trevor kept riding him the whole time in the Gotham and he came back on. He can be stubborn switching to his outside lead but when he does, he comes back on again.”

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Mandaloun Holds Off Weyburn To Win Pegasus Stakes

Squeezed to last place in the race's opening strides, Mandaloun had more than enough to do in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. Florent Geroux settled the son of Into Mischief into stride at the back of the small field, waited patiently for the right moment, and then sent his mount sprinting to the front on the final turn, passing Weyburn and Dr. Jack to take the lead. As Mandaloun closed in on the wire, Mandaloun held off a determined Weyburn to win the Pegasus by a neck.

As the second horse under the wire in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1, Mandaloun opted to bypass the last two Triple Crown classics in favor of training up to the Pegasus Stakes with the ultimate goal of the G1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth in July. Six weeks after the Derby, the Juddmonte colt, trained by Brad Cox, showed that he could overcome a troubled trip and a fast-closing Weyburn to win and gain experience over the Monmouth surface.

Entering the as the 3-10 favorite, Mandaloun broke from post two and was squeezed by Brooklyn Strong and Dr. Jack in the first furlong out of the gate, visibly checking as the field got into stride. Lugamo took a one-length lead over Weyburn, with Dr. Jack just behind them and then Brooklyn Strong and Mandaloun another length and a half back. With fractions of :24.67 for the first quarter and then 48.61 for the half-mile, Lugamo's pace set up for Mandaloun to overcome that early trouble.

On the backstretch, Geroux moved his colt into fourth, positioning Mandaloun for a move on the final turn. As Lugamo gave way to Weyburn and Dr. Jack, Mandaloun loomed up on the outside and picked up speed entering the stretch. In the final furlong, Mandaloun put more space between himself and Weyburn and Dr. Jack, but jockey Dylan Davis pushed Weyburn for another go at the eventual winner, closing the gap between them quickly. Geroux and Mandaloun were able to hold them off to cross the wire in front by a neck, with Dr. Jack in third. Brooklyn Strong and Lugamo rounded out the field. The final time was 1:44.63.

View the race's chart here.

Mandaloun paid $2.60, $2.10, and $2.10. Second-place Weyburn paid $3.00 and $2.20. Dr. Jack paid $2.60 to show.

After the race, Brad Cox was pleased with Mandaloun's performance in his first post-Derby start.

“We didn't expect that (being pinched at the start). We thought he might be on the lead or tracking a couple. We found ourselves last going into the first turn. But overall it was a big effort. I think he closed into a soft pace. He probably had to start his run a touch early given the fact that he was last. He ran a big race. Florent (Geroux) made the comment that he may have been looking around late. But he made the lead by himself. Overall it was a good effort for him to ship over here.”

“I think ultimately we're going to figure out what toll it took on him once we get back home (to Churchill Downs). The ship over for the race, the ship back. Things such as that. We'll put it all together and process it and let him tell us where he is over the next couple of weeks.”

“He made the lead and it looked like he was going to go on. Obviously the horse on the lead was setting softer fractions. You kind of expect that (he was forced to fight late). I don't think that's something that is totally unexpected. Overall it was a big race and we're proud of the effort. He responded when asked and was carried a touch wide and floated through the turn. But overall it was a good effort and hopefully he can bounce out of it in good order and be ready in five weeks (for the TVG.com Haskell Stakes).”

Florent Geroux, who has ridden Mandaloun in all of his starts, knew what his colt had left even after that uncertain start.

“Yes (he was pinched) a little bit (at the start). I didn't want to rush him. He was nice and relaxed during the race. It was nice to see that he was able to settle down on his own and everything worked out great. The important thing was not to rush him too hard (after the start).”

“I had a lot of horse. He was passing horses one by one. At the end when he made the lead maybe he was looking around a little. It was a new thing for him not having the whip for encouragement. I saw the other horse (Weyburn) coming inside of us. But he was still running pretty good at the end. He had to work for it but I don't think it was a really hard race on him. He did not come back blowing hard at all.”

Mandaloun is by Into Mischief out of the Empire Maker mare Brooch. He is bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms. His win in the Pegasus brings him to a record of four wins in seven lifetime starts, with $1,051,252 in earnings.

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Mandaloun Overcomes Tough Trip in Monmouth’s Pegasus

Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun (Into Mischief), who may yet be named this year's GI Kentucky Derby winner should Medina Spirit (Protonico) be disqualified, held off a determined Weyburn (Pioneerof the Nile) to kick off the second half of his sophomore campaign with a win in the TVG.com Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park Sunday.

Sent off the 1-5 favorite while facing just four rivals, Mandaloun was squeezed back to last soon after the break and trailed the compact field as longshot Lugamo (Chitu) set a leisurely pace up front with Weyburn a threatening presence to his outside. Weyburn, upset winner of the GIII Gotham S. in March, took command on the far turn, but Mandaloun was making progress of his own under energetic handling from jockey Florent Geroux. The bay colt charged into the lane with a three-wide move and, despite being floated out farther on the track as Weyburn drifted at the top of the stretch, looked set to power clear to an easy victory. But he seemed to idle in deep stretch as Weyburn re-rallied to just miss catching the favorite in the final jumps.

“We didn't expect that [being pinched at the start],” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “We thought he might be on the lead or tracking a couple. We found ourselves last going into the first turn. But overall it was a big effort. I think he closed into a soft pace. He probably had to start his run a touch early given the fact that he was last. He ran a big race. Florent made the comment that he may have been looking around late. But he made the lead by himself. Overall it was a good effort for him to ship over here.”

Geroux added, “He was nice and relaxed during the race. It was nice to see that he was able to settle down on his and everything worked out great. The important thing was not to rush him too hard [after the start]. I had a lot of horse. He was passing horses one by one.”

Geroux said that Monmouth Park's new stringent whip rules may have led to Mandaloun idling in deep stretch.

“At the end when he made the lead maybe he was looking around a little,” Geroux said. “It was a new thing for him not having the whip for encouragement. I saw the other horse [Weyburn] coming inside of us. But he was still running pretty good at the end. He had to work for it but I don't think it was a really hard race on him. He did not come back blowing hard at all.”

Mandaloun came up just a half-length short when second behind Medina Spirit in the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, but the results of that race remain in limbo following the first-place finisher's subsequent betamethasone positive.

The Juddmonte homebred was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his debut win at Keeneland last October and concluded his two-for-two juvenile campaign with an optional-claimer victory at Churchill Downs in November. He opened 2021 with a third-place effort as the 7-5 favorite in the Jan 16 GIII Lecomte S. and rebounded with a win in the Feb. 13 GII Risen Star S. He was a 26-1 longshot in the Derby off a dull sixth-place effort in the Mar.20 GII Louisiana Derby.

Mandaloun could be making a return trip to the Jersey Shore for the July 17 GI TVG.com Haskell S.

“I think ultimately we're going to figure out what toll it took on him once we get back home [to Churchill Downs],” Cox said of future plans for Mandaloun. “The ship over for the race, the ship back, things such as that. We'll put it all together and process it and let him tell us where he is over the next couple of weeks. It was a good effort and hopefully he can bounce out of it in good order and be ready in five weeks [for the Haskell].”

Pedigree Notes:
Mandaloun is a fourth-generation homebred for the late Juddmonte principal Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah. Juddmonte purchased his fourth dam Queen of Song (His Majesty) for $700,000 in foal to Seattle Slew at Keeneland November back in 1989. Mandaloun's dam Brooch is a two-time group winner in Europe and a half-sister to MSW & MGSP Caponata (Selkirk). The 10-year-old mare has a yearling full-brother to Mandaloun and produced a colt by War Front this year. This is also the family of Irish Highweight Emulous (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and group winner First Sitting (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

Sunday, Monmouth Park
TVG.COM PEGASUS S., $147,500, Monmouth, 6-13, 3yo,
1 1/16m, 1:44.63, ft.
1–MANDALOUN, 122, c, 3, by Into Mischief
        1st Dam: Brooch (MGSW-Ire, $217,059), by Empire Maker
        2nd Dam: Daring Diva (GB), by Dansili (GB)
        3rd Dam: Aspiring Diva, by Distant View
'TDN Rising Star' O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H.
   Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $90,000. Lifetime Record: GSW & GISP,
   7-4-1-1, $1,051,252.
2–Weyburn, 122, c, 3, Pioneerof the Nile–Sunday Affair, by A.P.
Indy. O/B-Chiefswood Stables Limited (ON); T-James A.
Jerkens. $30,000.
3–Dr Jack, 116, c, 3, Pioneerof the Nile–Marion Ravenwood, by
A.P. Indy. ($250,000 Wlg '18 KEENOV; $170,000 2yo '20
OBSAPR). O-Harrell Ventures, LLC; B-Ashview Farm & Colts
Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $15,000.
Margins: NK, 2HF, 15HF. Odds: 0.30, 4.90, 5.30.
Also Ran: Brooklyn Strong, Lugamo. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Monmouth Park: Sizeable Carryovers Await Bettors on Sunday’s Race Card

Hefty carryovers in the Pick 4, Pick 5 and Jersey Shore Pick 6 await bettors for the 11-race card at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. on Sunday after a succession of longshots dominated the final six races on Saturday's card.

Thanks in large part to Informative's stunning victory at odds of 79-1 in the featured Grade 3 Salvator Mile, there will be a carryover of $90,932 for the early Pick 4, a carryover of $67,939 for the early Pick 5 and a carryover of $29,974 for the Jersey Shore Pick 6.

The carryover for the Pick 5 sequence begins with Sunday's first race, with the Pick 4 carryover starting in the second race.

Monmouth Park handled a meet-best $6,180,159 from all sources for Saturday's 13-race card.

The Jersey Shore Pick 6 returned $12,384 for five of six winners for the 20-cent base bet on Saturday. The sequence started in the eighth race with Binkster ($9.80) and continued with Eagerly ($13.60) in the ninth race, Informative ($161.60) in the 10th race, Fifty Sheas ofgrey ($25.40) in the 11th race, U Know I B Lion ($30.60) in the 12th race and Pugilist ($12.40) in the 13th race.

Sunday's Pick 6 starts with race six.

The 50-cent Pick 5 on the final five races Saturday returned $4,529 for four of five winners.

The 50-cent Pick 4 Paid $325 for three of four winners.

Jose Ferrer rode three of the winners during Saturday's Pick 6 sequence (Informative, U Know I B Lion, and Pugilist) and had four winners overall on the card.

First race post time Sunday is 12:15 p.m. with the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes, featuring Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun, serving as the feature race.

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