The inaugural extravaganza that was the Pegasus World Cup is in the books and it delivered what its founders and organizers wanted – pitting the best older horses in training against each other for a big purse in front of a big on- and off-track crowd. Arrogate made the race look pretty good – and easy for that matter – running off to another dominating victory for his sixth straight win.
The lead-up races to the main event proved plenty entertaining as well, with a mix of short and long turf races, 3-year-old maiden and allowance events and other stakes sprinkled throughout the 12-race card at Gulfstream Park. Bettors seemed to like the day, too, as a record $40.2 million was wagered on the card, topping the $32.1 million bet on last year’s 14-race Florida Derby card.
We previewed all the action in our weekly primer The Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud, giving out a few winners, too.
• Speaking of winners, how about the performance of Imperative in the $400,000 Poseidon Handicap early in the day? California-based runners certainly need no introduction – see Arrogate and beaten Pegasus second choice and two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome – but Imperative represents the latest West Coaster to ship East and get the money.
Trained by Bob Hess Jr. and owned by Loooch Racing and Imaginary Stables, Imperative failed to factor in his last six graded-stakes attempts dating back to last year’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. Five of those six came in California – the outlier being the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic – so the now 7-year-old Bernardini gelding certainly preferred the fare in South Florida.
The Poseidon was Imperative’s first start for his new connections, who purchased him to possibly run in the Pegasus and as a backup to Pegasus starter War Story.
Imperative wore down a stubborn Stanford to win the Poseidon, which at 9 furlongs on the main track is the same basic conditions as the featured Pegasus. He ran it in 1:48.97, more than a second slower than Arrogate’s time of 1:47.61 that seems to have under fire and skepticism on social media in the last 48 hours. And you thought only presidential matters were handled on the web.
• Gulfstream’s eighth race caught our attention, mainly because it was an open 3-year-old maiden going 7 furlongs, and it didn’t disappoint. We mentioned Michael Tomlinson looking “to improve off Lookin For Eight’s solid debut” and the Lookin At Lucky colt did just that.
Second in a similar spot on Gulfstream’s New Year’s Eve Day program, Lookin For Eight rated just off the early pace, took command around the turn and won by 3 lengths geared down by Julien Leparoux. Maiden races like this often generate some buzz so look for this colt to possibly get a little steam in his next start.
• Two summers back a few members of The Saratoga Special’s editorial team popped by the shedrow housing a small string of runners trained by Brian Lynch to inquire about the next start and general whereabouts of Power Alert.
The Australian-bred gelding hadn’t been out since a fourth in the Grade 3 Parx Dash in early July and one of the two turf sprint stakes on the Saratoga schedule seemed like a logical spot for the winner of that year’s Grade 3 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on the Kentucky Derby undercard.
“No, we’re giving him a little time off,” Lynch said when the question came up about Power Alert. “I don’t think he likes hot weather much.”
Power Alert, who didn’t reappear until January 2016 and by early February won the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint. He added a second victory in that very stakes a few races before the Pegasus, topping 11 rivals and running 5 furlongs in a quick :54.90. Lynch, who told the Gulfstream publicity staff after the race that the gelding was born and raised in the same town where he’s from, said Power Alert is a “lovely sound horse that still enjoys his job. When they’re in that frame of mind you can get them sort of performances out of them.”
• Juddmonte Farm’s Suffused is another who likes her job. She showed that last summer at Saratoga, winning the Grade 3 Glens Falls the final Saturday of the meet and impressing Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and she did again Saturday in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante.
Overcoming post No. 12 under regular pilot Jose Ortiz, the 3-2 favorite Suffused beat second choice Arles by 1 length after the 12-furlong test.
Mott remarked last summer that Suffused “seems to be getting a little better and a little better each time. She’s trained a little better and a little better anyway. She’s in good health right now. She looks good, she’s eating good and she feels good. If you look at her, she’s made a little on the narrower type but she is looking real good right now.”
The improvement continued into 2017 and the La Prevoyante victory came after more than three months on the sidelines following a runner-up effort in the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor at Woodbine.
Canada produces NHC winner
While the Pegasus World Cup was going down in South Florida the 18th annual National Handicapping Championship was being settled in Las Vegas. Ray Arsenault of Thornhill, Ontario, emerged as the winner and took home the $800,000 first-place prize and the Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year.
Arsenault, who considers Woodbine just outside Toronto his home track, beat out 653 other entries in the contest that offered a record purse of $2,900,600.
Here’s a look at the top 10 finishers, and how much they won, at the NHC:
1 – Ray Arsenault, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, $800,000
2 – Steve Wolfson Jr., Holly Hill, Fla., $250,000
3 – Ryan Scharnowske, Westfield, Ind., $125,000
4 – Louis Filoso, Asbury, N.J., $100,000
5 – Dan Kovalesky, Shorewood, Minn., $75,000
6 – Steve Hartshorn, Fallbrook, Calif., $65,000
7 – Joe Jarvie, Renton, Wash., $59,500
8 – Frank Mustari, Des Plaines, Ill., $54,500
9 – David Bernal, Grand Prairie, Texas, $52,000
10 – Michael Caposio, Temecula, Calif., $50,000
Time for the future
Does it seem a little early for people to ask, “Got a Derby horse yet?”
The brass at Churchill Downs Inc. certainly don’t think so and rolled out the second of four pools of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Future Wager over the weekend. Bettors apparently aren’t ready to answer the question though as they made the mutuel field, or “All Others,” the favorite by the close of wagering Sunday.
The field, which includes all 3-year-olds other than the 23 individual horses on the roster of 24 betting interests, closed at 5-2.
Champion and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Classic Empire finished as the second choice at 5-1, just ahead of co-third choices Mastery and McCraken at 9-1 apiece.
A total of $330,042 was wagered on Pool 2 of the Future Wager – $227,880 in the win pool and $102,162 in the exacta pool. Those wading into the exacta pool certainly feel like they’ve got their Derby horse, and maybe another couple, too.
