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Art Collector in Fine Shape After Pegasus Win

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini) exited his win in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in fine shape, according to trainer Bill Mott.

“He's happy. He was bright and alert and seemed to be feeling pretty good about himself,” Mott reported from Payson Park Sunday morning.

Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S., had been a solid stakes performer before his emphatic 4 1/2-length victory in the Pegasus Saturday.

“It's strange. I knew he was doing well going into the race. I felt like he was training well, but you can't really predict the outcome in a race like that,” Mott said. “There's some nice horses in there and you don't know much about the rest of them. I knew our horse was doing well. Did he exceed expectations? I wouldn't say that because I didn't know what to expect.”

Plans for the 6-year-old remain up in the air.

“Anytime you've got a well-bred horse that's a Grade I-stakes winner, I think going to stud is always an option, and it's just a matter of timing when you do it. I can't say what was going on in [Lunsford's] head. I don't think that was the first thing that was on his mind though,” Mott said. “I think Bruce kind of entered the new year thinking he enjoys seeing him on the racetrack and I think he was prepared to continue on that route for the rest of the year if things got going well.”

Trainer Mike Maker reported Sunday that Three Diamonds Farm's Atone (Into Mischief) was also doing well following his breakthrough victory in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational.

“He came out of it in good order,” Maker said. “It's impossible not to be impressed by the way he ran.”

Maker mentioned the Mar. 25 GII Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds and May 6 GI Turf Classic at Churchill Downs as possible upcoming targets for Atone.

Atone capped a huge day at Gulfstream for Maker, who also ran sixth in the Pegasus Turf with 74-1 long shot King Cause (Creative Cause). Earlier in the day, Maker won the GIII Fred W. Hooper with Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and finished first, second, third and fifth in the GIII William L. McKnight led by winner Red Knight (Pure Prize).

On the day, Maker had three wins, one second and two thirds and earned $846,300 in purses. Prior to that he had a record of 29-4-3-4 with $154,615 in purses earned at the Championship Meet, which opened Dec. 26.

“It was a great day,” Maker said. “We were kind of in a slump there and to break out of it in that fashion felt great.”

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Havnameltdown Wires the San Vicente

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown set all the fractions and held stablemate and co-favorite Faustin at bay to the wire to win the GII San Vicente S. by 1 1 /2 lengths at Santa Anita Sunday. Off a tad awkwardly from his inside post, Havnameltdown recovered quickly to pull himself to the early lead and was in control after a quarter in :22.46, with longshot Man Child (Creative Cause), the lone non-Baffert runner in the four-horse field, in close attendance. The bay colt inched further clear entering the far turn as the half went up in :45.46. Faustin, making his first start since a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut at Santa Anita Dec. 26, loomed a threat nearing the stretch, but Havnameltdown scampered clear into the lane and maintained his advantage to the wire as his stablemate tried in vain to reel him in down the length of the stretch.

“I felt out of the gate with the first jump, he broke really fast and strong then after that I felt like I was just cruising,” said winning jockey Juan Hernandez. “He was having fun out there. He was kind of waiting for horses, I was doing the same thing, I was just waiting for him and waiting for the competition to get close to me so I could start making my horse run. At the three-eighths, I felt the pressure a little bit and I asked him and he responded really well. Turning for home he switched leads and he picked it up by himself.”

Havnameltdown will likely stay at one-turn distances, while Baffert is looking forward to stretching Faustin out.

“This horse is built for this distance that's him, one turn,” Baffert said of the winner. “He will stay one turn. Faustin, he was kind of a grinding slow, he wants to go longer, the other horse [Fort Warren] wants to go longer. You try to get outs into them so they'll learn and you'll figure [them out]. The other two are ready to go long.

“The problem is that if you break your maiden first time out, you have to run in stakes. It is that way all over the country. Just getting these races into them is important. Faustin, you can tell he is not there yet, once he goes two turns, you'll see a big difference in him. He wat trying to get there but he was running against a top-class sprinter.”

Havnameltdown was a $16,000 OBSOCT purchase by pinhooker Blas Perez, who resold the colt for $200,000 following a :9 4/5 work at last year's OBS April sale. The colt graduated on debut at Del Mar last July and added a win in the Aug. 14 GIII Best Pal S. in his second outing. He suffered his first loss when second behind stablemate Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the Sept. 11 GI Del Mar Futurity, but returned to the winner's circle with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 20 GIII Bob Hope S. last time out.

Pedigree Notes:

Havnameltdown is one of six graded winners for his sire Uncaptured. The Canadian champion 2-year-old, who began his stud career at Ocala Stud, relocated to South Korea for the 2020 breeding season.

The winner's dam, Ashley's Babe, in foal to Maximus Mischief, RNA'd for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. She has a 2-year-old Tapiture colt who RNA'd for $4,500 earlier this month at the Keeneland January sale.

Sunday, Santa Anita
SAN VICENTE S.-GII, $196,000, Santa Anita, 1-29, 3yo, 7f, 1:22.29, ft.
1–HAVNAMELTDOWN, 124, c, 3, by Uncaptured
                1st Dam: Ashley's Babe, by Put It Back
                2nd Dam: Charms Way, by Salt Lake
                3rd Dam: Remember Midnight, by Cure the Blues
($16,000 Ylg '21 OBSOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman;
B-Katherine S Devall (FL); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez.
$120,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-4-1-0, $408,000. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Faustin, 120, c, 3, Curlin–Hard Not to Like, by Hard Spun.
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($285,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $800,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR).
O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Dattt Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $40,000.
3–Fort Warren, 120, c, 3, Curlin–La Appassionata,
by Bernardini. 'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE,
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP).
O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert
Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber,
Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine Donovan; B-Stonestreet
Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 1HF, 8 3/4, 4 3/4. Odds: 1.00, 1.00, 4.90.
Also Ran: Man Child. Scratched: Gilmore.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Report: 1/ST Racing Planning on Holding Pegasus Races at Santa Anita in 2024

According to an Associated Press report, 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, intends to bring the Pegasus format to the California in 2024.

“I'd really love to see that we bring it to the West Coast,” 1/ST President and CEO Belinda Stronach told the AP. “That will probably happen in 2024. What we did this year for 2023 was said, 'OK, we have a number of great race days, let's coordinate those better and call it the 1/ST Racing Tour and recognize great achievements within our own footprint.'”

The wire service reported that the plan is to have two Pegasus days in 2024, one at Gulfstream and the other at Santa Anita, with each program including turf and dirt races. It was not immediately clear where the two race days would fit into the calendar and what races would be run at each track. Stronach made it clear that the 2024 schedule will include Pegasus races at Gulfstream, the only home the events has known since it began in 2017.

“This is staying here in Miami,” Stronach said. “Pegasus has a home here in Miami. We can't move Pegasus from Miami. We have great partners here and it's more than just a day now. We have deep roots here in Miami.”

A California Pegasus will join the 1/ST Racing Tour, a package that includes many of the biggest days and races at the 1/ST tracks, including the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico. The tour also includes the runnings of the GI Florida Derby and the GI Santa Anita Derby.

“We can never rest on our laurels,” Stronach said. “We have to keep moving forward. We have a great team that's really committed.”

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Gun Runner Filly a ‘Rising Star’ at Gulfstream

Bandita (f, 3, Gun Runner–Tricky One, by Unbridled's Song), coming off her first set of works for now-eight-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, cemented her status as a 'TDN Rising Star' at Gulfstream Park on Sunday afternoon. The bay filly, backed down to even-money favoritism, did not disappoint her connections or the bettors in what was a sparkling debut.

Breaking alertly, the Bass Stables colorbearer set the tone early by controlling the pace up front. Despite being challenged by Arrow Bolt (Arrogate) just before the far turn, the $350,000 KEESEP purchase moved professionally, and at the eighth pole poured it on by showcasing a new set of gears as the rest of the field faded into the background. Bandita hit the wire 8 3/4-lengths ahead of 7-2 shot Ocean Club (Curlin) who was second.

Tricky One, who was purchased by International Equities Holdings for $275,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, is a half-sister to MSW Optionality (Gun Runner) and SW Simple Surprise (Cowboy Cal), whose millionaire son GISW Gunite (Gunite) won Saturday's King Cotton S. at Oaklawn and could be Dubai-bound. The first runner to win at the races for her dam has an unnamed 2-year-old half-sister by Flatter and her mare visited Practical Joke last year. Bandita is the sixth 'TDN Rising Star' for last year's leading sophomore sire.

4th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 1-29, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:22.77, ft, 8 3/4 lengths.
BANDITA , f, 3, Gun Runner
          1st Dam: Tricky One, by Unbridled's Song
          2nd Dam: Simplify, by Pulpit
          3rd Dam: Classic Olympio, by Olympio
Sales History: $350,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $42,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-Bass Stables, LLC; B-International Equities Holding, Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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