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Aiming for ‘Glory’ in the Pegasus F/M Turf

Since its inaugural running in 2017, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational has become one of the marquee events during Gulfstream's Championship Meeting. Its 'Turf' equivalent, which was added in 2019, was won by that season's Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar, and three years later, a division for the fairer set is added to the card, the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S.

Formerly the Marshua's River S., the 8 1/2-furlong test for older fillies and mares features a pair of Grade I winners–morning line favorite Peter Brant's Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) and Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown), a homebred for Charles Fipke.

The former, a half-sister to MGSW Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), is an eight-time stakes winner, including the most recent Del Mar's GI Matriarch S. Nov. 28. Last season, she also annexed the Plenty of Grace S. and De La Rose S., in addition to finishing runner-up in the GI First Lady S. The daughter of MGSW Mary's Follies was plucked out of the Paul Pompa Jr. dispersal at Keeneland last January by Brant for $925,000.

Lady Speightspeare showed her class early on, taking her career debut while becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' at Woodbine in August before taking the one-mile GI Natalma S. at that venue to cap off her 2-year-old campaign. Back on top in her sophomore reappearance while facing her elders in a Woodbine optional claimer last September, she was scratched after acting up in the gate before Keeneland's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Oct. 16 and was scratched by her trainer Roger Attfield prior to the Oct. 29 GIII Rubicon Valley View S. Trying a synthetic surface for the first time in the seven-panel GII Bessarabian S. against older rivals at Woodbine Nov. 13, the chestnut rolled home by four lengths before finishing third behind the re-opposing Bipartisanship (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) in her final race of the season in Gulfstream's Tropical Park Oaks Dec. 26. Junior Alvarado rides the 4-year-old for the first time.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, offering very strong candidates in the other two Pegasus races, is represented in this inaugural running by Robert and Lawana Lowe's Sweet Melania (American Pharoah). The consistent filly has hit the board in 12 of 15 lifetime starts, including a recent win over the local turf course in the one-mile GIII Suwanee River S. Dec. 18. On that occasion, she defeated several horses marking their returns here, including runner-up Shifty She (Gone Astray).

“She's had six weeks since [the Suwanee River] and she's eating well, putting on a little more weight,” said Pletcher. “She's also been training very enthusiastically. All the signs you'd like to see. Her coat is better than it was. She just seems to be blossoming right now. This will be a tougher ask, but she's doing great.”

Making her U.S. debut Saturday, Gary Barber and Team Valor's Wakanaka (Ire) (Power {GB}), winner of six of eight starts in Italy while under the care of trainer Diego Dettori. In her final race in Italy, the bay won the G3 Regina Elena Italian 1000 Guineas at Capannelle in Rome last April. Purchased by the current partnership 10 months ago, she suffered from bone bruising after her arrival in the U.S., postponing her Stateside debut.

“Everybody wants to win the 1000 Guineas equivalent. There it's a Group 3, but it's a Classic,” said Team Valor's Barry Irwin. “That's the big focal point for all the fillies.”

He continued, “She was a good 2-year-old. She would have been the second-best 2-year-old filly in Italy. She had six starts: four wins, two seconds. She got beat by the filly [Aria Importante] that wound up being the champion.”

Trained by Bill Mott, the filly will break from post 2 under Umberto Rispoli.

“She's a very likable filly,” said Irwin. “She's got a lot of pizazz about her. And she's got instant turn of foot, which is the one thing that we liked. That's why we buy so many horses over there. You tell them to go and it's like now.”

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Titans Square off in Pegasus World Cup

When a racetrack musters a $3-million purse for a featured event, the hope is that racing's stars will attend the big dance. And this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. certainly succeeded in attracting two of the biggest names–Knicks Go (Paynter) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief)–in the American handicap division.

Knicks Go, a 2 3/4-length winner in last year's Pegasus World Cup, finished fourth in the G1 Saudi Cup and GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. before reeling off four-straight wins, including the GI Whitney S. and in his latest race, the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. Knicks Go was named the 2021 Longines World' Best Racehorse during a virtual ceremony at the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England Tuesday.

“The Breeders' Cup Classic was his biggest race he's had to date,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He's going to go to Taylor Made after the Pegasus to become a stallion. After the Classic, we had decided if he came out of the race in good order, which he did, we would pursue the Pegasus. He has trained as well as he did going into the Classic.”

He continued, “After the [Saudi Cup] last year, he was fresh and came back and didn't run as well as we had hoped in the Met Mile. Personally, I think that had a lot to do with that race being around one turn. He has not had a lot of time off, and that's very similar to what we did with the [2020 GI Breeders' Cup] Dirt Mile and last year's Pegasus. So, we have pretty much kept him on the same routine. He went over to Taylor Made for three to four days to be shown to potential breeders and was shown on a shank. Aside from that, he's been training the whole time. He's been doing well, his weight is great and his attitude is good. And he's been training great and his works have been phenomenal.”

The striking grey was installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in a field of nine older horses after drawing the one hole Tuesday. Joel Rosario has the call.

“We're not really going to deviate from what we've done in the past,” affirmed Cox. “[Life Is Good] is a very fast, brilliant horse. We're not going to let him have his own way, and I think he's probably not going to let us have our own way. We're going to break running, hopefully, get to the lead. We're going to be very aggressive to get him there.”

He added, “It's the same approach we took in the Breeders' Cup. We'll see how it goes. He's proven at a mile and an eighth and he does like the surface there. He likes the configuration of the racetrack there at Gulfstream–he proved that last year. We're just going to come out of there running and see what happens.”

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm are represented by Life Is Good, who has done very little wrong in his career, winning four of five graded attempts, including a tour-de-force victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar last November. Under the guidance of Bob Baffert, the powerful bay became a 'TDN Rising Star' with a 9 1/2-length score at Del Mar in the fall of 2020 before returning the following spring to annex the GIII Sham S. and GII San Felipe S.–defeating subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protanico) on both of those occasions.

“He came to us with high expectations, and he had a great resume,” said trainer Todd Pletcher of Life Is Good's arrival. “Initially, we were just getting to know him and see how he trains. He trained exceptionally well, so we had high hopes for him.”

After joining the Pletcher string, the $525,000 KEESEP yearling graduate came up a neck short to Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga. With Irad Ortiz Jr. taking over riding duties for the Sept. 25 GII Kelso H. at Belmont, the sophomore drubbed older rivals for the first time to win by 5 1/2 lengths and came back with an even more sparkling performance when winning for fun on Breeders' Cup Day.

“We were unlucky in the Allen Jerkens to be beaten that day, but we mapped out a course at that point and we felt like the Dirt Mile was the correct race for him,” explained Pletcher. “The Kelso seemed like a good race to bridge the gap between the Jerkens and the Dirt Mile and I worked out well for him. Since that, we've been focused on this race. And we're going great.

“Knicks Go is a very fast horse. We know that. But we're not going to alter our style of running. And we're not going to take away his strength, which is his high-cruising speed. I honestly don't know for sure what's going to happen, at least in the first quarter or half, because you are going to have two horses that are looking for the same kind of trip.”

Hoping to pick up the pieces should a speed duel develop up front, 2019 GI Belmont S. victor Sir Winston (Awesome Again) enters the fray off a win in Woodbine's 12-furlong GIII Valedictory S. Dec. 5. Edwin Gonzalez gets the mount for trainer Mark Casse. Also likely to settle just off the pace and hope for a meltdown up front, Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) has hit the board in five of seven stakes races in 2021, including a win in the Iowa Derby and a second in the GI Awesome Again S. He was last seen finishing third in the seven-furlong GI Malibu S. Dec. 26.

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$4.1m Curlin Colt and Most Expensive Midnight Storm Debut in Florida

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EXPENSIVE MIDNIGHT STORM DEBUTS
4th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 12:57 p.m.
SWING SHIFT, the most expensive offspring by young sire Midnight Storm, makes his career bow in this test for trainer Todd Pletcher. A $180,000 KEESEP yearling buy, the dark bay blossomed into a $550,000 OBS April juvenile purchase after breezing in :20 4/5. He hails from the family of Grade I winner Tap To Music (Pleasant Tap). TJCIS PPs

MOTT UNVEILS $4.1M CURLIN COLT
8th-TAM, $28K, Msw, 4yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:48 p.m.
Godolphin's $4.1-million KEESEP purchase AUSSIE PRIDE (Curlin) makes his career bow in this spot for trainer Bill Mott. The bay was the most expensive colt and second-most expensive yearling at the 2019 edition of that auction, following the late, regally bred, $8.2-million filly America's Joy (American Pharoah), a daughter of the recently deceased, blue hen Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek). Bred by Stonestreet Stables, Aussie Pride is out of New Zealand champion Bounding (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), who is a half-sister to Irish Highweight Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). TJCIS PPs

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Journeyman Takes a ‘Chance’ with New Stallions

At Journeyman Stud in Ocala, Florida, one feels a sense of family and mutual respect among all of the inhabitants–horses, dogs and people. The atmosphere is relaxed and happy. Brent Fernung of Journeyman Stud and his wife, Crystal, have been cornerstones of the Thoroughbred industry in Florida for more than 40 years. Under Fernung's management Congrats, the leading first-crop sire of 2010, and Wildcat Heir, North America's leading second-crop sire in 2010, both began their careers.

In addition to its two new stallions Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo–Forest Music, by Unbridled's Song) and Chance It (Currency Swap–Vagabon Diva, by Pleasantly Perfect), Journeyman Stud currently stands Khozan, Florida's leading sire in 2020 and 2021, as well as St Patrick's Day and Mr. Money. Fernung said he wasn't necessarily looking for a new stallion when he went to the Keeneland November Sale. But when, at the suggestion of friends Des Ryan and Ben Glass, he visited Uncle Chuck, he said he knew this was a stallion prospect that would appeal to Florida breeders.

Campaigned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck was $250,000 Keeneland September yearling and is a half-brother to successful Kentucky-based sire Maclean's Music. In his second start, Uncle Chuck won the GIII Los Alamitos Derby.

“In his first start, [Uncle Chuck] dominated a field of maidens winning by seven lengths, and it could have been 70 lengths. And he was obviously still green, [he] got about mid-stretch and switched to his left lead and kind of started gawking around and was still drawing off from them under what wasn't particularly perfect circumstances,” said Fernung. “Then of course, he followed that up with a four-length victory over Thousand Words in a Grade III running a mile and an eighth in his second start. So, I don't think there was any distance limitations to this horse at all.”

Brilliance on the track is just one of the pillars Fernung looks for in a successful stallion and he said Uncle Chuck checks all of his boxes.

“Forest Music was a very good race mare. First of all, she might have been the fastest daughter of Unbridled's Song to make it to the races,” said Fernung. “And as a broodmare, besides producing a top-quality stallion in Maclean's Music, she's produced two other graded stake winners besides Uncle Chuck. It's a great family. You can't beat it.

“When the opportunity arose to get Uncle Chuck, I looked his pedigree up. And he had this tremendous pedigree,” said Fernung. “But more importantly, he was a top racehorse that was brilliant in the few starts he was able to make. That's the trifecta, in my opinion.

“I don't want a stallion because of who his brother is. I don't want a stallion because of who his sire is. And I really don't want a stallion just based on his talent or ability. I want that combination, you know, by a world-class champion sire out of a spectacular broodmare and a solid racehorse.”

Fernung said Uncle Chuck's physical is another attribute adding to his appeal.

“Uncle Chuck physically is such an impressive horse,” said Fernung. “He's got plenty of bone. He's a big horse, probably 16.3. And he's just as correct as he can be. He's really an entire package physically. His ability, his pedigree, his sire, put together with that physicality is really an unusual combination of traits to get down here.”

Uncle Chuck has been well received already with more than 60 mares in his book and Fernung said the phone is still ringing. In addition to the local interest, Uncle Chuck's ownership group plans to bring a large group of mares to the freshman sire.

“It's an interesting story. I went and looked at Uncle Chuck on my own and the next day I got a call from Frank Taylor from Taylor Made and Frank says, 'I just been out here to look at this horse. Would you be interested in standing him down in Ocala?'” said Fernung. “Getting Taylor Made involved has always been fortunate for us. Of course, they were the ones who originally sent Wildcat Heir down to Journeyman.”

Chance It just before his Mucho Macho Man S. win| Ryan Thompson

Chance It, Journeyman's other new stallion, has been a fan favorite in Florida for his entire racing career. With lifetime earnings of $583,330, he was on the board in nine of 11 starts with six triple-digit Beyers. A multiple FTBOA Florida Sire S. winner at two and an additional black-type winner at three, he finished third in Saratoga's GI Forego S. at four.

“Chance It has great local appeal here in Ocala. He was Florida's horse,” said Fernung. “He was destined to go on and do some really great things, in my opinion. But then he injured himself. He came back, placed in a Grade I sprint stakes, had the potential to win one of them, but injury ended his career at that point.”

As to Fernung's formula for success, Chance It has more than just racing ability.

“Chance It's a big, strong correct horse,” said Fernung. “He's 16.2. You can see the reason he was so fast when you look through his hindquarters and his shoulder. He moves like a cat, just a very nice physical.”

Fernung said Chance It's ownership group, led by Mary Lightner with advice from her father, Mike, is as enthusiastic to bring mares and support the stallion in his new career as they did with his racing career.

“We've been friends with them for 30 years,” said Fernung. “The opportunity to own a stallion with them was one that we really embraced.”

Fernung said he believes Chance It has a great chance to succeed in Florida.

“Our entire industry down here has been developed through 2-year-old racing,” said Fernung. “I think Chance It has that kind of physicality to him that's going to get you early horses that can really run. I'm excited to have the opportunity to stand him.”

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