Tag: Pegasus World Cup

Knicks Go Possible for Pegasus

Korea Racing Association's Knicks Go (Paynter), fresh off an emphatic victory in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Saturday, could cap his career in the Jan. 29 GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Sunday.

“If he comes out of it good and he trains well, we'll point for the Pegasus,” Cox said. “It's a good purse, it's a surface he likes and if he's doing well, there have been horses that won the Breeders' Cup and ended their careers with that, between the likes of Gun Runner and City of Light. It's always a nice race that you can pick off hopefully before going off to stud.”

Knicks Go is expected to begin his stud career at Taylor Made Farm next year.

The $3-million Pegasus could also be the target of Saturday's GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good (Into Mischief).

“That's what we'd spoke about prior to the race that our sort of two-race plan was the Mile and then stretch him out farther in the Pegasus,” trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday. “He certainly ran well enough to proceed in that direction if everything goes smoothly, but we haven't really had any time to really firmly discuss our entire plans yet. I'm sure once everybody gets back to their headquarters, we'll have that conversation.”

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Life is Good, knocked off the Triple Crown trail earlier this year by an ankle chip, was a narrow second in his comeback race, the seven-furlong GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga and won the one-mile GII Kelso H. by 5 1/2 lengths Belmont Park Sept. 25 before his Breeders' Cup victory.

“It was everything that we were hoping for and then maybe even more,” Pletcher said of Saturday's victory at Del Mar. “The horse had trained spectacularly coming into the race and I felt like he was sitting on a big race. When he broke cleanly, you could tell they were going quickly and there were some other horses trying to be involved. My first concern was just, hopefully, he hadn't gone too fast, but it seemed like he was relaxed and settled. In spite of the fact that he was rolling right along, he was doing it comfortably. I think that's kind of what we've come to expect from him. He's one of those horses that's extremely fast, has a very high cruising speed and the ability to continue doing it. What was even more impressive to me than the :21 and four and :44 and change and 1:08 and change, is that he essentially won geared down. Then Irad [Ortiz] had to reach up and grab a hold of him in the middle of the turn. Galloping out, he was still full of horse. I don't think he could have been any more impressive.”

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‘She Knows What She Needs To Do’: Unplanned Workmate Doesn’t Shake Gutierrez’ Confidence In Distaff Favorite Letruska

Much has been made of morning-line favorite Letruska's final workout before the Breeders' Cup Distaff, in which the 5-year-old daughter of Super Saver picked up some unplanned company. 

Though she usually breezes on her own, a timing snaffu saw Letruska hook up with the lightly-raced Richard Baltas-trained 2-year-old Brandon'smylawyer in her Oct. 30 workout at Del Mar. Workmates can cause horses to work faster than their connections might otherwise want, but instead that younger filly went on by her rival, out-finishing Letruska down the stretch.

Letruska's response to the challenger leaves handicappers to puzzle out the significance just a week ahead of her biggest test of the season.

“It wasn't really what you want to see,” offered Letruska's trainer, 54-year-old Breeders' Cup first-timer Fausto Gutierrez. “When you wake up in the morning, this isn't something you think might happen. But she came back in good form, breathing normally. That's what is most important.

“You know, she's traveled 17 times this year. She knows when the race is getting close, and what she needs to do.”

Exercise rider Roger Horgan agreed that while the workmate was unplanned, the mare handled it with her usual aplomb.

“I was not planning on company; it was not ideal,” Horgan said. “She did relax. I was a bit concerned, but she switched off and let her do it on her own. I was very proud of her the way she relaxed.”

Letruska was officially credited with a time of 1:01.20 for five furlongs, while Brandon'smylawyer was clocked over four furlongs in :47.20.


Another somewhat unusual training activity saw Gutierrez send Letruska to the track with just a pony – no rider on her back – on Monday morning. For the 10-time leading trainer in Mexico, ponying his horses on their own every so often is a normal part of the routine.

“When the horse doesn't feel the jockey, they can relax their body more,” the trainer explained, adding that the mare resumed galloping under a rider on Tuesday morning.

It's tough to argue with the results: Letruska has put together an impressive campaign this season, winning six of her seven starts, including the Grade 1 Apple Blossom, G1 Ogden Phipps, and G1 Personal Ensign. 

“The only point now is that she arrives concentrated and happy,” Gutierrez concluded. “We don't have anything else to do.”

Should Letruska prevail in the Distaff, a race against males could be on her calendar. Gutierrez plans to race the mare again in 2022, and the Pegasus World Cup in January is on the radar.

No matter what happens on Saturday, Gutierrez is enjoying the journey. He's come a long way from his origins in Mexico, where he got into horse racing as a turfwriter and built up his training operation to the leading one in the country. Letruska's career also began in Mexico: Gutierrez conditioned her to a 3-year-old championship there in 2019. The filly won the first six starts of her career, and then traveled to Gulfstream Park to win the 2019 Copa Invitacional del Caribe. 

That success helped encourage Gutierrez to make the move to training in the United States; he now keeps a string year-round in South Florida.

“This is a real dream, because nobody can think this could happen,” he said. “When I had this horse in Mexico City I understood she's a special horse, a horse who could run fast. But to be here, it's like another planet.

“I try to do the best work. I don't have a lot of horses with this quality. I just have one. Sometimes I feel like Rambo – I have to go with all the other ones, horses who have seven or eight horses [like this.]”

The post ‘She Knows What She Needs To Do’: Unplanned Workmate Doesn’t Shake Gutierrez’ Confidence In Distaff Favorite Letruska appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Knicks Go to Stand at Taylor Made

Four-time Grade I winner and one of the favorites for 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter–Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker) will retire to Taylor Made Stallions at the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced Monday. Campaigned by Korea Racing Authority, Knicks Go is currently the top-ranked older horse on the NTRA Thoroughbred Poll as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup.

“The KRA's goal was to buy and race in the U.S. with an eye toward developing stallions,” said Jun Park, racing manager for the KRA's United States stable. “As his name suggests, Knicks Go is a horse that was selected by a genome selection program called K-Nicks, which was designed to help select optimally excellent racehorses and stallions. To have done this for such a short time and to already have a multiple Grade I-winner like Knicks Go is very gratifying. We are excited to stand him at Taylor Made, and we look forward to his next career as a stallion.”

An earner of $5,553,135 thus far in his racing career, Knicks Go has registered triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures of 113, 111, 108 (twice), 107, and 104 and has recorded two track records at Keeneland, one of them in winning last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile where he stopped the clock in a sizzling 1:33.85. He also established a new course standard in his prep for the Dirt Mile, winning an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles by 10 1/4 lengths in a brisk 1:40.79.

Breaking his maiden on debut in July of his 2-year-old season, Knicks Go went on to capture that year's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland with a 5 1/2-length romp. He was then second to eventual champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Dominating the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. to start his 5-year-old campaign, he also proved uncatchable in winning the historic GI Whitney S. at Saratoga in August by 4 1/2 lengths after crushing his rivals by 10 1/4 lengths in his prior start, taking the GIII Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows in July with a career-best 113 Beyer. He most recently cruised to a four-length score in the GII Lukas Classic S. Oct. 2 at Churchill Downs in his final prep for the Breeders' Cup.

“He really is what a horse is supposed to be,” Brad Cox said of Knicks Go. “They are supposed to get faster and stronger as they get older. He's a little bit of a throwback horse as far as accomplishing things early and then still being in training three years later.”

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Gulfstream Releases Championship Meet Stakes Schedule Worth $14.26 Million

A major race will be inaugurated, and a significant purse increase for a tradition-rich Triple Crown prep will be introduced in Gulfstream Park's 2021-2022 Championship Meet stakes schedule released Friday afternoon.

A total of 76 stakes (37 graded) worth $14.26 million, more than $1 million than the previous year, will be run during the prestigious winter meet that will get underway Dec. 3 and run through April 3.

The $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G3) will debut on the Jan. 29 program that will be co-headlined by the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 4-year-olds and up, and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 4-year-olds and up on turf. The 1 1/16-mile turf event for older fillies and mares, which will replace the Marshua's River (G3) on the new schedule, will be one of seven graded stakes worth $5.2 million on a World Class Thoroughbred racing program that will be supported by high-end entertainment, cutting-edge fashion, and fine dining.

For more information on Pegasus tickets and festivities for Pegasus World Cup visit pegasusworldcup.com the week of Oct. 11.

Purses for all 3-year-old stakes on Gulfstream Park's Road to the Triple Crown have been increased, most notably the 70th running of the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) on April 2. The historic 1 1/8-mile stakes, which has produced the winners of 60 Triple Crown races, will be renewed for a purse of $1 million, a $250,000 increase over last season. The Florida Derby will be supported by six graded stakes, including the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies, and the $200,000 Kitten's Joy Pan American (G2), a 1 ½-mile turf event for older horses. Total purses for 10 stakes races on Florida Derby Day will be $2.2 million.

The Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) will be renewed for $400,000, up from last season's purse of $350,000, on a March 5 program that will feature nine graded-stakes. The 1 1/16-mile key prep for the Florida Derby, will be supported by three other Grade 2 stakes, including the $200,000 Davona Dale, a mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies; the $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), a mile stakes for 4-year-olds and up; and the $200,000 Mac Diarmida, a 1 3/8-mile turf event for older horses.

The Mucho Macho Man, a mile race for 3-year-olds, will kick off Gulfstream's Road to the Triple Crown Jan. 1 with a $50,000 purse increase to $150,000. The Holy Bull (G3), a 1 1/16-mile stakes for Florida Derby and Triple Crown hopefuls, will be renewed Feb. 5 with a $400,000 purse, a $50,000 increase over last season. The Holy Bull will be supported by the $100,000 Claiborne Swale (G3), a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds; the $100,000 Forward Gal (G3), a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies; the $100,000 Kitten's Joy (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds; and the $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

The Claiming Crown, the nine-race event for the blue-collar horses that have run for claiming prices, will be held for the 10th consecutive year at Gulfstream Park Dec. 4. The $125,000 Jewel, the 1 1/8-mile headliner for 3-year-olds and up, was won last season by Jesus' Team, who went on to finish second behind Knicks Go in the Pegasus World Cup.

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The first multi-graded-stakes program is scheduled for Dec. 13, featuring the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), a 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up. The card with five graded stakes will also include the $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3), 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds and up that received a $50,000 purse increase; the $100,000 Rampart (G3), a mile race for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up; the $100,000 Sugar Swirl (G3), a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up; and the $100,000 Suwannee River (G3), a mile turf event for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up.

In addition to the Pegasus World Cup, Pegasus World Cup Turf, and the Pegasus F&M Turf, the Jan. 29 program will offer four other graded stakes – the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares; the $150,000 William L. McKnight (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf race for 4-year-olds and up that received a $50,000 purse boost; the $150,000 La Prevoyante (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf race for older fillies and mares; and the $150,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3), a mile event for 4-year-olds and up.

The Florida Derby Day program will offer 10 stakes for a total of $2.2 million in purses. In addition to the Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park Oaks and the Kitten's Joy, graded-stakes action will include the $100,000 Ghostzapper (G3), a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 4-year-olds and up; the $100,000 Appleton (G3), a mile turf race for 4-year-olds and up; and the $150,000 Orchid (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf event for older fillies and mares that received a $50,000 purse boost.

There are no stakes scheduled for the newly installed Tapeta course, but the all-weather racing surface will be employed in the event stakes are transferred from the turf due to inclement conditions.

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