Pegasus World Cup cheat sheet

The 1 1/8-mile race on the main track at Gulfstream Park drew the top four finishers from the Breeders’ Cup Classic ... Gun Runner, Collected, West Coast, and War Story, respectively.

Television coverage starts at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Jan. 27th



Collected


Jockey: Mike Smith

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owner: Speedway Stable

Career record: 13 starts – 8 firsts – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $2,316,500

Earnings per start: $178,192

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 128

Pedigree: City Zip – Helena Bay, by Johannesburg

Color: Chestnut

Age: 5

Running style: Press the pace



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Collected entered the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic a perfect 7-for-7 in races held on fast dirt tracks and ran gamely to finish second to Pegasus rival Gun Runner. His subsequent third-place finish as the 3-10 favorite in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes was a real head-scratcher though, and his 20-point drop to a 107 from the 127 Equibase Speed Figure he earned at the Breeders’ Cup is a concern. Before the San Antonio, he had posted 128/128/127 speed figures in three starts. He will need to get back to that level to win the Pegasus. Trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith teamed to win the inaugural Pegasus last year with Arrogate, a horse Collected later defeated in the TVG Pacific Classic.

Fear the Cowboy


Jockey: TBD

Trainer: Efren Loza Jr.

Owners: Kathleen Amaya and Raffaele Centofanti

Lessee: Stronach Stables, Ronald Frankel, and Jerry Frankel

Career record: 27 starts – 9 firsts – 7 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $570,86

Earnings per start: $21,143

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 115

Pedigree: Cowboy Cal – Whom Shall I Fear, by Soto

Color: Bay

Age: 6

Running style: Stalker/Closer



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Fear the Cowboy enters off a career-best performance in the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream, where he rallied for a 2 ¼-length win that earned him a new best 115 Equibase Speed Figure. This is a major step up in class for Fear the Cowboy, who has never raced in a Grade 2 race, much less a $16 million Grade 1 against four 2017 Eclipse Awards finalists: Gun Runner, Collected, West Coast, Stellar Wind. On the plus side, he does appear to love the Gulfstream main track with four wins in seven starts, including victories in his last three Gulfstream starts by open lengths.

Giant Expectations


Jockey: Gary Stevens

Trainer: Peter Eurton

Owners: Exline-Border Racing, Gatto Racing, and Garrett Zubok

Lessee: Pegasus Race Participants LLC

Career record: 13 starts – 4 firsts – 3 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $449,200

Earnings per start: $34,554

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 119

Pedigree: Frost Giant – Sarahisittrue, by Is It True

Color: Chestnut

Age: 5

Running style: Stalker



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Giant Expectations really found his groove in the second half of 2017, winning the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes, finishing sixth in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and then winning the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes to close the year. He defeated Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Collected in the San Antonio and won for the first time going around two turns. He’s definitely a horse on the rise, but stretching out even farther against this level of competition could be stretching it. He’s definitely worthy of consideration for the top three with Hall of Famer Gary Stevens scheduled to ride.

Gunnevera


Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Antonio Sano

Owner: Margoth

Lessee: Gallo Stables

Career record: 14 starts –5 firsts – 3 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,627,200

Earnings per start: $116,229

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 121

Pedigree: Dialed In – Unbridled Rage, by Unbridled

Color: Chestnut

Age: 4

Running style: Deep Closer



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Gunnevera earned a new career-best 121 Equibase Speed Figure when he rallied to finish fifth in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic, 6 ¼ lengths behind Gun Runner. He raced four times in Grade 1s a year ago and posted a second and a third, so he has proved capable against elite competition. The big key for Gunnevera almost certainly will be pace. He’s a deep, deep closer whose chances would be greatly enhanced if several of the top horses engage in a duel up front that leads to really a fast pace. In that scenario, I could see Gunnevera sweeping past rivals in the stretch for a top-three finish.

Gun Runner


Jockey: Florent Geroux

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Owners: Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm

Career record: 18 starts – 11 firsts – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $8,988,500

Earnings per start: $499,361

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 132

Pedigree: Candy Ride – Quiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway

Color: Chestnut

Age: 5

Running style: Pace/Press the pace



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Gun Runner almost certainly will be named Horse of the Year at the 2017 Eclipse Awards ceremony the week of the Pegasus. He is in impeccable form, having won four straight Grade 1 races by a combined margin of 24 ¾ lengths, most recently winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic by 2 ¼ lengths. His Equibase Speed Figures during the winning streak have ranged from 127 to 132, and he clearly is the best dirt horse in training on the planet right now. Of course, racing fans know very well that doesn’t mean he can’t lose. It just means it will take a Herculean effort to beat him in the final start of his career.

Seeking the Soul


Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Dallas Stewart

Owner: Charles E. Fipke

Career record: 17 starts – 5 firsts – 3 seconds – 5 thirds

Career earnings: $551,162

Earnings per start: $32,421

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: Perfect Soul – Seeking the Title, by Seeking the Gold

Color: Bay

Age: 5

Running style: Stalker



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Seeking the Soul enters the Pegasus off a visually impressive victory coming from off the pace in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare on Nov 24 at Churchill Downs. The Clark was his first career stakes win, but Seeking the Soul has been on the rise. He posted new career-best Equibase Speed Figures in each of his final three starts of 2017, including setting a new track record at Keeneland for 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.36. His third dam (maternal great-grandmother) is 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and champion Personal Ensign, whose daughter My Flag won the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. My Flag’s daughter Storm Flag Flying won the 2002 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to make it three straight generations of Breeders’ Cup winners.

Sharp Azteca


Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Jorge Navarro

Owners: Ivan Rodriguez and Martin Scharf

Lessee: Ron Paolucci, Ashley Quartarolo

Career record: 16 starts – 8 firsts – 5 seconds – 1 thirds

Career earnings: $1,756,740

Earnings per start: $109,796

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 132

Pedigree: Freud – So Sharp, by Saint Liam

Color: Dark Bay or Brown

Age: 5

Running style: Pace/Press the pace



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

As far as current form, perhaps only Sharp Azteca is in the same ballpark as Gun Runner. He’s won three of his last four starts, all in graded stakes, with the only loss a runner-up finish by a half-length in the Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. He earned a career-best 132 Equibase Speed Figure for the Dirt Mile and followed with a 5 ¼-length runaway win in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets. In his last 10 races, Sharp Azteca has not finished outside the top three and has won five times. Distance is probably the key question, as Sharp Azteca has never competed in a race longer than 1 1/16 miles.

Stellar Wind


Jockey: Victor Espinoza

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owners: Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith

Career record: 16 starts – 10 firsts – 2 seconds – 1 thirds

Career earnings: $2,253,200

Earnings per start: $140,825

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 114

Pedigree: Curlin – Evening Star, by Malibu Moon

Color: Chestnut

Age: 6

Running style: Stalker/Press the pace



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

The only female among the probable starters, Stellar Wind will make her first start for new trainer Chad Brown after she was purchased by her current owners for $6 million at the 2017 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. The 2015 champion 3-year-old filly had an incredible run from December 2014 through July 2017 in which she won 10 of 14 starts, including six Grade 1s. The ultra-consistent racemare enters off arguably the worst race of her career when eighth in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3, but she has been training well for her return and is a threat for a top-three finish at her best.

Toast of New York


Jockey: Frankie Dettori

Trainer: James Osborne

Owner: Al Shaqab Racing

Lessee: Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Eric Young

Career record: 9 starts – 4 firsts – 3 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $2,359,014

Earnings per start: $262,113

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 112

Pedigree: Thewayyouare – Claire Soleil, by Syncline

Color: Bay

Age: 7

Running style: Stalker



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

The wild card of this group, Toast of New York came out of retirement to win a 1 ¼-mile conditions race on the synthetic surface at Lingfield Park in England on Dec. 6. The one-length win came after more than three years on the sidelines following his retirement after running second to Bayern in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic. That was his only start to date on a dirt main track — his other eight races came on either turf or synthetic surfaces — but he won the Grade 2 United Arab Emirates Derby in 2014 on the synthetic main track at Meydan and also finished second to champion Shared Belief that year in the TVG Pacific Classic when Del Mar had a synthetic surface. He’s definitely talented and proven against elite competition, but it’s tough to trust a racehorse who spent a few years living the relaxing life of a stallion against a field with the likes of Gun Runner, Collected, and West Coast.

War Story


Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Jorge Navarro

Owners: Loooch Racing Stables Inc., Glenn K. Ellis, and Imaginary Stables

Lessee: Pegasus Race Participants LLC

Career record: 24 starts – 5 firsts – 3 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $1,584,305

Earnings per start: $66,013

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 124

Pedigree: Northern Afleet – Belle Watling, by Pulpit

Color: Chestnut

Age: 6

Running style: Stalker/Closer



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

The only returning runner from last year’s Pegasus World Cup, War Story finished fifth of 12 in 2017. He’s won only once since then — a 2 ½-length victory in the Grade 2, 1 ½-mile Brooklyn Invitational Stakes — but earned a career-best 124 Equibase Speed Figure in his most recent start when fourth by four lengths in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Unplaced in nine attempts in Grade 1 races, it would be tough to endorse War Story as a win candidate. A top-three finish probably is his ceiling for the Pegasus.

West Coast


Jockey: Javier Castellano

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: Gary and Mary West

Career record: 9 starts – 6 firsts – 2 seconds – 1 thirds

Career earnings: $2,083,800

Earnings per start: $231,533

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 125

Pedigree: Flatter – Caressing, by Honour and Glory

Color: Bay

Age: 4

Running style: Stalker/Press the pace



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

A finalist and the favorite for the Eclipse Award as 2017 champion 3-year-old male, West Coast won six of nine starts last year in his first season of racing. He followed up his 3 ¼-length domination of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets with a tour de force 7 ¼-length romp in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. Coming off a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that earned him a career-best 125 Equibase Speed Figure, West Coast must be viewed as a key player in this race and a threat to win. He’s eligible to improve as a 4-year-old who was one of the youngest of his crop (born in May) and he’s in the capable hands of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who won this race a year ago with Arrogate, another talented 4-year-old coming off a champion 3-year-old male campaign.

Game Over


Jockey: Kendrick Carmouche

Trainer: Jorge Navarro

Owners: Loooch Racing Stables

Lessee: N/A

Career record: 5 starts – 2 firsts – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $270,400

Earnings per start: $54,080

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 104

Pedigree: Mineshaft – Kaweah Princess, by Soto

Color: Bay

Age: 4

Running style: Stalker



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Like a few others, Game Over will face a class test in the Pegasus. He last raced in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby; however, that race was restricted to 3-year-olds and he ran a well-beaten fourth. With only five lifetime starts, he has plenty of room to improve, and he probably will need to improve his Equibase Speed Figure by about 20 points from the career-best 104 he earned when finishing second in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby in August to factor here. Don’t get me wrong, this is an exciting, young racehorse with loads of potential, but he’s facing the best of the best and needs to take a big step forward to finish in the top three.

Giuseppe the Great


Jockey: TBD

Trainer: Nick Zito

Owner: Mossarosa

Career record: 10 starts – 2 firsts – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $467,300

Earnings per start: $46,730

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 105

Pedigree: Lookin At Lucky – Shawnee Moon, by Forestry

Color: Bay

Age: 4

Running style: Stalker/Closer



Notable achievements and interesting facts ...

Giuseppe the Great has a trio of top-three finishes from six tries in graded stakes without a win. He ran second in both the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes and Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes and most recently won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 10. He’s never finished outside the top three in three races at Gulfstream, but he’s also never faced competition at the level of the Pegasus World Cup lineup. Giuseppe the Great is wading into deep, rough waters here.

Even though he is an odds-on, morning-line favorite, will Gun Runner (4-5) finish his career with a victory in the Pegasus? That is not so certain.


There is no getting around the problem of drawing an outside post position in a nine-furlong race on the main track at Gulfstream. With only 150 yards from the gate to the clubhouse turn, horses drawn wider than gate 6 since 2013 are no better than 7 for 129 ... barely a 5% win rate.

So what is tougher? The bad luck of the draw? Or the competition that includes four other horses that finished second through fifth behind Gun Runner 12 weeks ago in the Breeders’ Cup Classic?

There will be bettors who look at the post-position stats and dare to throw Gun Runner off the top of their tickets. So if not him, who could win the Pegasus?

Gun Runner and two other 5-year-olds drawn into gates 4 and 5 – Sharp Azteca (6-1) and Collected (8-1) – are poised to bring the early speed, begging the question what happens if a speed contest falls apart late in the race?

It could then set up for Collected’s stable mate in trainer Bob Baffert’s barn. Two-time Grade 1 winner West Coast (8-1) drew post position 2 and jockey Javier Castellano is likely to stalk the pace with him as he did when he finished third behind Gun Runner and Collected in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“If somebody skips a note, I want to be there,” Baffert said. “We know that Gun Runner is going to be really tough. All I do is I concentrate on my horses, that they show up.”

The same may be said of Collected. He was inexplicably held back in his last race – a third-place disappointment as the 3-10 favorite in a dawdling San Antonio Stakes last month at Santa Anita.

“I thought I could probably sit off thinking it was going to have a whole lot more pace than what actually developed,” Smith said. “He turned off so quick I couldn’t move. It turned into a sprint for home. It was a mistake on my part.”

War Story (25-1), drawn into gate 8, and the comebacking European stallion Toast Of New York (20-1), in gate 9, also may be just off the pace for most of the race with mid-pack runner Seeking The Soul (25-1) hoping to lurk from post position 11.

Gunnevera (15-1) is the most prominent closer in the race. Last year’s Fountain of Youth winner drew 6 and may attract a bit more smart money than usual. That is because Gulfstream, a track widely perceived as speed-favoring, is playing more evenly than usual for closers.