Tag: Pegasus

Knicks Go Breezes Bullet in Final Tuneup for Pegasus

Knicks Go (Paynter) tuned up for a title defense in Saturday's $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park with a bullet five-furlong workout Sunday morning at Fair Grounds.

The Brad Cox trainee, who captured last year's Pegasus World Cup by 2 3/4 lengths, was timed in 1:00 2/5, the fastest of 57 workouts recorded at the distance at the New Orleans track. Exercise rider Edvin Vargas was aboard. Sunday's breeze was the gray's second straight bullet in a series of eight workouts (seven at Fair Grounds) since capturing the Breeders' Cup Classic by 2 3/4 lengths at Del Mar Nov. 6.

Knicks Go, widely expected to be named 2021 Horse of the Year next month, is scheduled to ship to Gulfstream Park by van Monday for his final career start in the Pegasus, in which he is slated to clash with GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good (Into Mischief).

“He breezed good and we're really happy with him. We'll check him in the morning [Monday] and if everything is good to go, he'll be on the van and head out at 8:30 a.m.,” Cox said. “We'd like to get him there as quickly as possible; I'm thinking it will take around 13 hours. I'm flying in Monday afternoon, so I'll meet him there and we'll be ready to go.”

Post positions for Saturday's Pegasus as well as the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and the GIII Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf will be drawn Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in Sport of Kings at Gulfstream Park and can also be viewed on the Pegasus Facebook page and Pegasus website.

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‘Another Super Breeze’ For Life Is Good Ahead Of Pegasus World Cup

WinStar Farm and CHC Inc's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Life Is Good put in his final work Saturday morning for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

Life Is Good, millionaire son of Into Mischief, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.90 over a fast main track at Palm Beach Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, ranking third of 15 horses.

It was the seventh work for Life Is Good since his front-running 5 ¾-length triumph in the Dirt Mile Nov. 6, the last six following his mid-December arrival in South Florida. The Pegasus will be his first race at 1 1/8 miles.

“It was another super breeze. He looked awesome, moving really well, in hand throughout,” Pletcher said. “It's kind of what we've been seeing every week. Just beautiful action, and does things effortlessly. We couldn't be more pleased with how he went.”

Life Is Good has never raced at Gulfstream with five wins from six career starts, his lone loss coming by a neck in the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens (G1) last August 28 in his first race since joining Pletcher. He also owns graded wins in the Sham (G3), San Felipe (G2) and Kelso (G2).

“We know he's super talented and he's training great,” Pletcher said. “We're excited about the race, we're excited about the way he's coming into it, and we're looking forward to it.”

Repole Stable's Fearless, also among the 17 Pegasus invitees, worked a half-mile Saturday in 48.80 seconds for Pletcher. Fearless exits a four-length triumph in Gulfstream's Dec. 18 Harlan's Holiday (G3), and the trainer said a decision is forthcoming on whether he will run in the Pegasus or $150,000 Charlatan presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G3), formerly the Fred Hooper, going one mile.

Also working for Pletcher Saturday was Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam, who went five furlongs in 1:01.34 as he prepares to defend his 2021 victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1). Colonel Liam went to win the Muniz Memorial (G2) and Turf Classic (G1) but has gone unraced since finishing off the board in the Manhattan (G1) last June.

Pletcher's other Pegasus Turf contender, Repole Stable's Never Surprised, worked a half-mile Saturday in 49.66 seconds. Never Surprised enters the race off back-to-back wins including the Dec. 27 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream, the same race Colonel Liam used as a springboard to his Pegasus win.

“Kind of different strategies with those two. Never Surprised, we're just trying to keep him happy. He's coming off some good races and he's kind of had a consistent schedule here recently, so we're just trying to keep him sharp,” Pletcher said.

“With Colonel Liam we wanted to do a little more,” he added. “He hasn't run in quite a while so we wanted to get another good work into him which we did, and it seems like he's fit and ready to go. We'll hope he can run as well as he did last year.”

The Pegasus World Cup program will feature seven graded-stakes worth $5.2 million in purses, including the inaugural $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G3) where Pletcher is planning to run the Lows' multiple graded-stakes winner Sweet Melania. Sweet Melania worked a half-mile in 48.98 seconds Saturday.

At Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, Pedigree Partners' Grade 3 winner Shifty She breezed a half-mile in 49.50 seconds for Championship Meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

The post ‘Another Super Breeze’ For Life Is Good Ahead Of Pegasus World Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Pegasus Turf: Hit The Road Ready To Fire His ‘A Game’ Off The Bench

While the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) has long been in the plans for Hit the Road, trainer Dan Blacker did not expect to run in the race off a nearly four-month layoff.

Ah, but odd things happen in life and sport and Blacker has no choice but to train the Grade 1 winner up to his first start at 1 1/8 miles in the $1 million race Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

Hit the Road, owned by DK Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, Tony Maslowski and Dave Odmark, gave Blacker, 39, the first Grade 1 win of his career with his neck victory over Smooth Like Strait in the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita. Blacker purchased the now 5-year-old son of More Than Ready in 2018 as a yearling in a private sale after he failed to reach his reserve price at a public auction.

“After he won a Grade 1 in March last year we had the Breeders' Cup in mind throughout the year,” Blacker said. “We were prepping him, then he had a fever the week before the race and we had to scratch him. To prepare a horse for that amount of time and to have to withdraw at the last minute was really disappointing.”

After that setback and once Hit the Road resumed training, Blacker plotted a new course.

“We prepped him for the San Gabriel (G2), which is a mile and an eighth at Santa Anita [Dec. 26], with the Pegasus in mind because that race was at a mile and an eighth, as well,” he said. “And then that race came off the turf and we had to scratch out of that race. So, we're just coming in here. It's a bit of an unknown, but the horse is training really well.”

Hit the Road has a long series of breezes on his work tab, most recently going five furlongs in 58.40 seconds over the Santa Anita turf Jan. 16.

“Everything needs to go perfect, really,” Blacker said. “It's a lot of tests that he has to pass in order to make the trip. It's a long trip, it's very expensive and I don't want to take him unless he's ready to fire his absolute 'A' game. Hopefully we'll be able to do it. But it's up to the horse. We'll just have to see over the next two weeks. Right now, he's doing great and I'm really happy with him.”

Thanks to the unforeseen combo of the minor illness and then rain in December in Southern California, the Pegasus Turf will be Hit the Road's first start since he finished third by a half-length in a troubled trip in the City of Hope Mile (G2) Oct. 2 at Santa Anita. The City of Hope was his 11th consecutive race at one mile.

“He runs really well fresh, so I'm not worried about the fitness,” Blacker said. “I'm more concerned about the distance. You just never know. I think he will be able to run at a mile and an eighth, but the question is: Is he as good at a mile and eighth as at a mile? And when you're running in Grade 1s, you've got to bring your 'A' game.

“It's a lot of money, this race. We were fortunate to be invited and grateful to the Stronach Group for inviting us,” he added. “It just depends on the horse, how he works over the next two weeks. Hopefully everything runs smoothly [and] we can take a shot.”

The post Pegasus Turf: Hit The Road Ready To Fire His ‘A Game’ Off The Bench appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘Every Bit As Good Or Better’: Life Is Good Breezes For Pegasus World Cup

WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Life Is Good turned in another sharp work Saturday morning as he nears his next scheduled start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding breezed five furlongs in 1:00.36 at Palm Beach Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, third-fastest of 14 horses. Pletcher continues to be impressed with the way he Life Is Good is heading into the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus.

“Just another super work this morning. Looked awesome, finished up really strong, galloped out great. Looks good here this afternoon. We're very, very happy with him,” Pletcher said. “I had him in a minute and two-fifths, had him shading 23 [seconds] the last quarter. He galloped out seven-eighths in 1:26 and two and just looked great doing it.”


Saturday was Life Is Good's sixth work since his front-running 5 ¾-length triumph in the Breeders' Cup Nov. 6, the last five coming in South Florida, where he has never raced and had never trained until mid-December.

Based in California at 2 and for the start of his 3-year-old year, winning the Sham (G3) and San Felipe (G2), Life Is Good joined Pletcher last summer and suffered his first career loss by a neck in the H. Allen Jerkens (G1). He beat older horses in each of his last two starts, prepping for the Breeders' Cup in the one-mile Kelso (G2).

The Sham, at 1 1/16 miles, is the longest race to date for Life Is Good.

“I love the way he's settled in here. He's been really training well, but also a little more relaxed,” Pletcher said. “I think he likes the environment at Palm Beach Downs. We kind of take him out when he's the only horse on the racetrack, so he's enjoying that.

“His works, he couldn't work any better but he's always been such an exceptional work horse that I guess anything other than exceptional would be concerning,” he added. “He seems to be every bit as good or better than he was going into the Breeders' Cup.”

Pletcher said Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam emerged well from his five-furlong breeze in 1:00.23 Friday at Palm Beach Downs, the fastest of 11 horses, as he prepares to defend his title in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

“Very pleased. It looks like he's coming up to it in good order,” he said. “One more breeze to go, but all systems go.”

Other Pletcher horses on the initial Pegasus Turf invite list were Repole Stable's Never Surprised and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables' Largent. Never Surprised, winner of Gulfstream's Dec. 26 Tropical Park Derby, remains on track following a Friday breeze in 51.40 seconds at Palm Beach Downs.

Largent ran fourth in the Tropical Turf (G3) Jan. 8 at Gulfstream, his first start since finishing second by a neck to Colonel Liam in last winter's Pegasus Turf.

“I have to talk to the connections. I don't know that we're going to be able to bounce back in three weeks,” Pletcher said. “I want to see how he does this week, but right now we're just kind of playing it day by day.”

The Pegasus World Cup program will feature seven graded-stakes worth $5.2 million in purses, including the inaugural $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G3) where Pletcher is planning to run the Lows' multiple graded-stakes winner Sweet Melania. Sweet Melania worked a half-mile in 50.43 seconds Friday at Palm Beach Downs.

Also on the work tab for Pletcher Saturday was Donegal Racing's Mo Donegal. The 3-year-old son of champion Uncle Mo, winner of the Dec. 4 Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct, went five furlongs in 1:01.26, fourth-fastest of 14 horses, and is being pointed to the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 5 as his season debut.

“Mo Donegal worked this morning, five-eighths, and went really well,” Pletcher said. “We're on target for the Holy Bull.”

The post ‘Every Bit As Good Or Better’: Life Is Good Breezes For Pegasus World Cup appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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