Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
GULFSTREAM
Two Pegasus berths remain unfilled
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The last two starting spots in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup have yet to be firmed up, but whichever horses complete the field of 12, they’re bound to be longshots that will barely move the needle on pre-race wagering.
While an official list of possibilities besides the 10 confirmed spot-holders for the Jan. 27 Pegasus was unavailable Friday, at least five horses are known to be under consideration for the remaining slots – Fear the Cowboy, Singing Bullet, J Boys Echo, Giuseppe the Great, and Game Over. When entries are drawn Jan. 24, there will be a two-horse also-eligible list in addition to the 12 horses in the main body.
Gun Runner, who is scheduled to arrive Thursday at Gulfstream Park after breezing either Sunday or Monday at his Fair Grounds base, will be a solid favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus. The other confirmed starters are Collected, West Coast, Stellar Wind, Seeking the Soul, Sharp Azteca, Gunnevera, Toast of New York, War Story, and Giant Expectations.
The Pegasus leads a blockbuster Jan. 27 card that will include seven other stakes, including four Grade 3 events – the Fred Hooper, W.L. McKnight, La Prevoyante, and Hurricane Bertie.
All-sources handle on the inaugural Pegasus card last January was $40.2 million, an all-time Gulfstream record. Arrogate was an easy winner in a field that was strung out 62 lengths from first to 12th.
Few Sunshine Millions noms
Short lists of nominations portend short fields for the Sunshine Millions, the fourrace series to be renewed next Saturday (Jan. 20) at Gulfstream.
Top names likely among the 10 nominees to the richest of the four races, the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic, are Mr. Jordan and Richard the Great, the respective 2-3 finishers in the Harlan’s Holiday here last month.
Fourteen nominations were taken for the $150,000 Turf; 16 for the $150,000 Filly and Mare Turf; and 12 for the $100,000 Sprint.
This will be the 16th running of the Sunshine Millions, which was inaugurated with far bigger purses in 2003 at both Gulfstream and Santa Anita as a competition between Floridabreds and California-breds.
In recent years, the Sunshine Millions races were run prior to the Eclipse Award ceremonies being held the same night at Gulfstream, but the Eclipse dinner has been moved to a Thursday night (Jan. 25) this year.
Break over for Caledonia Road
Caledonia Road, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November, is scheduled to return to the track this coming week at Gulfstream, trainer Ralph Nicks said.
“We’ll start her out jogging and just ease her back into training,” Nicks said. “She’s been on a little break and is doing really well.”
Nicks said he is looking for two prep races, “depending on how everything goes,” for Caledonia Road leading into the May 4 Kentucky Oaks.
Leparoux becomes U.S. citizen
Two-time Eclipse Awardwinning jockey Julien Leparoux was absent from riding at Gulfstream Park on Wednesday for good reason: He became a U.S. citizen at a ceremony in his adopted hometown of Louisville, Ky.
Leparoux, 34, first came to the United States from his native France in 2003. He began his riding career in the United States in 2005 and has become a perennial leading jockey at Keeneland and Churchill Downs while also competing regularly at Saratoga in the summer and Gulfstream in the winter.
McGaughey nears 2,000 mark
For the trainer who has done most everything, another notable feat is within reach. Entering this weekend, Shug McGaughey was just six winners away from hitting the 2,000-win mark.
McGaughey, 67, was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2004. Among his many other accomplishments are a 1988 Eclipse Award as top trainer and a Kentucky Derby victory in 2013 with Orb.
11 races on tap Sunday
A $44,000 hybrid allowance for older Florida-bred turf sprinters will serve as the nominal feature on an 11-race Sunday card that begins at noon Eastern. Carded as race 9, it’s part of a Rainbow 6 sequence that runs from races 6 to 11.
Entering Friday action, the Rainbow 6 jackpot had swelled to $1,682,088, with Dec. 7 being the last time a solo winning ticket had emptied the pool.
◗ Mondays are usually dark at Gulfstream, but an 11-race card (first post, noon) will be held this Monday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. There is no makeup dark day, meaning 11 programs will be held here during a 12-day stretch (Jan. 10-21), with only Jan. 16 dark.