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In a World of Change, Stability Comes to the Pegasus

Grade 1 dirt, turf races offer full fields plus unchanged purses for the first time.

Horses break from the gate at Gulfstream Park

Horses break from the gate at Gulfstream Park

Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson

There's a great amount of irony that the Pegasus World Cup Series finally found some stability in the midst of a volatile and deadly pandemic.

When the fifth renewal of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) takes place Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, it will mark the first time there will be no change from one year to the next in the purse structure for either the dirt race or the newer Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T).

A year ago, the dirt race carried a lucrative purse of $3 million with neither entry fees nor race day Lasix, while the turf race was worth $1 million, also without fees and Lasix.

All of those conditions will be in effect Saturday when the Pegasus Series will once again fulfill its original purpose of bringing together a collection of the best horses in training while serving as an incentive to keep top-class horses in training for an extra year.

Viewers on NBC (4:30 to 6 p.m. Eastern) will be treated to a full field of 12 starters in both the $3 million Pegasus and $1 million Pegasus Turf, with more than enough graded stakes winners in the mix to create a pair of highly entertaining races that should be powerful magnets for wagering dollars.

"Last year was a very successful year with the same purses and conditions. In the past owners were paying for spots and last year not a dollar was spent to run, and it worked out well for us," said Mike Lakow, Gulfstream Park's vice president of racing. "I think we found the right groove."

That groove stands as proof that more isn't necessarily better. 

The Pegasus has been racing's mix of the Breeders' Cup and a chameleon: something ground-breaking that often changes. The first Pegasus in 2017 had a novel concept, requiring the owners of the 12 starters to pay $1 million for a spot in the starting gate to fund a $12 million purse. It fueled a highly anticipated rematch of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) between Arrogate and California Chrome  that never would have happened without it, and provided the top finishers with a treasure chest of cash. Yet it also left the connections of the also-rans drowning in red ink and wondering why they showed up.

A year later, the funding mechanism was tinkered and the purse jumped to $16.3 million before it was trimmed to $9 million in 2019 when the $7 million turf race was introduced and the entry fee dropped to $500,000. 

Finally, in 2020, the purses were slashed but the costly buy-ins were eliminated, which kept the $3 million and $1 million purses highly attractive, even with the $20 million Saudi Cup and $12 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) on the horizon in the next two months.

Gulfstream Park vice president of racing operations Mike Lakow.
Photo: Ryan Thompson
Gulfstream Park vice president of racing operations Mike Lakow

"We get a lot of shippers which reflects the popularity of the races and shows how the out-of-town horsemen appreciate it," Lakow said. "It's great that you can walk out of your normal stall here at Gulfstream and run for $3 million, but we just had a plane fly in with six or seven horses from California and Louisiana for the races, and that's what makes these races so great."

Keeping the purses level wasn't an easy task. After a difficult 2020 racing season due to the pandemic, attendance will be limited to 1,800 Saturday, yet Belinda Stronach, president and CEO of The Stronach Group that operates Gulfstream Park, held the line on purses.

"Belinda didn't blink," Lakow said. "She felt the races need to be here for the horsemen, and we were not going to change anything."

Normally Gulfstream Park is abuzz on Pegasus Day with a packed facility and a red carpet entrance for celebrities. No less of a star than Snoop Dogg joined the party in 2019, while Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez were on hand last year. The 2020 Pegasus also featured a post-race concert with Nelly and T-Pain.

Saturday's scene will be much more muted without the glitz and glamour of the past. Attendance will be capped at 15% throughout the facility, and there will be no general admission. Only table seating will be available for fans and horsemen—all of whom will need temperature checks and must fill out a health questionnaire before they are allowed to sit in socially distant areas.

"This is really a bittersweet moment for us," Aidan Butler, COO for The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Racing content, said about the lack of a full complement of fans. "Obviously, it's such a marquee event for us. We are proud of what we have accomplished in a short period of time and also proud of the group and how the people in our 1/ST Racing team worked to put on a safe event. They pulled together with the city of Hallandale to put on a spectacular event and a safe event. Our thanks go out to the owners, trainers, the jockeys for being part of this, and we look forward to a successful racing weekend."

Lakow said the quest to fill the two Pegasus races started about two months ago, with a list of 150 owners and trainers to contact.

The fruits of the racing office's labors were 24 starters, including four grade 1 winners in the Pegasus Turf and a dirt race that may not be as star-studded as the first few years but, in a year when injuries and retirements claimed a bevy of the top horses, features almost all of the top older males in training with the notable exception of Charlatan .

Knicks Go - Gulfstream Park, January 21, 2021                        
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King
Pegasus World Cup morning line favorite Knicks Go stands in before training Jan. 21 at Gulfstream Park

The Korea Racing Authority's Knicks Go , who won the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), is the morning line favorite in the Pegasus while Colonel Liam , who will be seeking his first graded stakes win, tops a strong three-pronged entry from seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher in the Pegasus Turf.

Saturday's dazzling card will also feature five other graded stakes.

"We couldn't do any better than the fields we gathered," Lakow said. "The Pegasus is an excellent race. Getting a horse like Kiss Today Goodbye coming in from California helps a race like this come together. The turf race is a very, very competitive race. I can't imagine the favorite being less than 4-1, and every horse seems to have a shot."

The lone difference in this year's race is the timing. The Pegasus was normally held on the final Saturday in January, but due to the emergence of the Saudi Cup with its gargantuan purse, the Florida race was moved up a week. As a result, the winner of the Pegasus will receive an automatic entry for the Feb. 20 Saudi Cup, which stands as the world's richest race, and the Pegasus Turf victor will get a berth in the $1 million Middle Distance Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard.

"I like our position," Lakow said. "You have four weeks until the Saudi Cup, and if you decide to run in the Pegasus and want to pass the Saudi Cup and run in the Dubai World Cup you have plenty of time to get ready for it. The response to moving up the race was good, and we have good fields. We'll look at it again next year."

Looking back at everything that went into getting the fifth Pegasus Day off the ground, Lakow admits it was a challenge, but, in a sad commentary on what has transpired across the country since March, it was really nothing new. For more than 10 months, Gulfstream Park has been putting in place the safety measures and protocols that allowed the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track to avoid the cancellations that marred the 2020 season at most facilities nationwide.

"We have to react to what's going on around us. We'd love to have full attendance Saturday, but we can't, and we have to play it safe," Lakow said. "It wasn't a great challenge for us because the pandemic didn't just happen. We've been living through it. The horsemen knew what needed to be done. There were hiccups, but the horsemen we contacted understood what was going on, and they are running.

"We didn't have a stoppage of racing because when COVID started we confronted it and went overboard on protocols," he added. "I give credit to the horsemen. Whatever we told them to do, even if they thought it was insane, they did it and cooperated, and we got through it. We're trying to avoid issues. We have a great health and safety team and human resources team. (1/ST Racing's executive director of Florida racing operations) Billy Badgett does a tremendous job. He's focused on keeping us safe. I've been working with the horsemen, and I have to say we've been extremely fortunate. We did our homework, and it's paid off."

As a result, while the mood for the fifth Pegasus will be remarkably subdued from the first four, it will be far removed from Gulfstream Park's first major race after the pandemic took a grip on the world. Back on March 28, when Tiz the Law  captured the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), it was an eerie setting at an empty Gulfstream Park with no fans or owners on hand, just a limited number of essential personnel.

"Last year for the Florida Derby, it was completely different," Lakow said. "We were just beginning to deal with the pandemic, and no one was here. I saw (jockey Manny Franco) getting his picture taken after winning with Tiz the Law, and I told him I was sorry there was no one here. With that horse, with Jack Knowlton and his Sackatoga group owning him, there would have been 50 people high-fiving Manny in the winner's circle during a normal year. Instead there was nobody. It was just him. It was shocking. You win the Florida Derby, you're the favorite for the Kentucky Derby (G1), and no one is cheering. It was nutty."

In contrast, 10 months later the scene will surely be different Saturday when financial change will finally be in short supply for the Pegasus World Cup.