NY-Bred Spirit of St Louis Wins Pegasus World Cup Turf

Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Richard Schermerhorn's Spirit of St Louis joined the ranks of graded winners in style Jan. 25, closing strongly in the final strides to capture the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Gulfstream Park. Spirit of St Louis, a 6-year-old gelded son of Medaglia d'Oro, won for the 10th time in 14 starts. His only previous graded stakes appearance was a fifth-place finish in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland Oct. 5. All nine of Spirit of St Louis' previous victories were on New York tracks and eight were in New York-bred company. "The horse has been training super. I'm just fortunate the horse got in the race because without a lot of graded stuff next to him and no graded wins, he could have easily gotten excluded," trainer Chad Brown said. "I'm happy he was in the race and fired today." Winning owner Dubb said he knew his horse would become a grade 1 winner. "Actually, I did. We knew what we had, we knew how good he was," Dubb told BloodHorse. Watch: Dubb Savors Spirit of St Louis' Pegasus Turf Victory William Warren Jr. and Suzanne Warren's California shipper Formidable Man led Live Oak Plantation's Win for the Money while setting fractions of :22.74, :46.20 and 1:09.29 in the 12-horse field of 4-year-olds and up. Spirit of St Louis and rider Tyler Gaffalione were midpack a few lengths pack, but stuck between horses. West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Pine Racing Stables, William Freeman, Michael Valdes and John Ballantyne's Integration, who went off as the second choice at 7-2, edged away from the leaders after the eighth pole and appeared to be in good position under Frankie Dettori. However, Spirit of St Louis and Gaffalione swung out to the eight path at the top of the stretch and rallied to overtake Integration in the final strides. "I just kind of waited for my spot and coming into the stretch I was able to work my way out, and the horse did the rest. I'm so happy for the connections and thankful for the opportunity," Gaffalione said. "It's incredible. This is home for me and it's good to see so many friendly faces and it's good to be back in the winner's circle." Spirit of St Louis beat Integration by a neck in a final time of 1:44.50 for 1 1/8 miles on the firm turf. That was just off the track record of 1:44.45 set by last year's winner Warm Heart (IRE). The winning gelding paid $17.80, $8.40 and $6.00. Integration crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Paradise Farms, David Staudacher and Angelo Carlesimo's 64-1 Chasing the Crown, ridden by Edgard Zayas and trained by Mike Maker, in third. The Pegasus World Cup Turf victory was Brown's second after winning the first edition in 2019 with eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar. "At this level on the turf, the horse just keeps improving," Brown said of Spirit of St Louis. "I thought he had some bad trips. His numbers are good. He's probably better at a tick shorter than this, but I do know this turf course. I don't run it a whole lot, but I know that it's so firm that it plays longer." Dubb's confidence in his horse grew as he and Gaffalione made their move coming out of the turn. "He was a little pinned in, but once he got out in the open, I was feeling pretty good," Dubb said. "I was feeling pretty good I was going to be first or second." Integration ran in his second straight Pegasus Word Cup Turf after finishing fifth as the favorite last year. "I thought he ran really well. I thought we had it," McGaughey said. "I'm proud of the way he ran. He'll have one of these big races in his wheelhouse this year. We will point for something in New York next." Godolphin homebred Nations Pride (IRE), a graded winner in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, finished a disappointing ninth as the 5-2 favorite. Champion British jockey and regular rider William Buick rode the Charlie Appleby-trained bay, who was roused midway around the far turn but faded in the final furlong. "He broke a bit slow," Buick said. "I ended up in a good spot behind the leader, but I had to fight for a little bit of room in the straight. His run kind of flattened out gradually." The winner was purchased by Dubb for $280,000 out of the ELiTE consignment at the 2023 Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale. Bred in New York by Chester and Mary Broman out of the graded stakes-winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Khancord Kid, Spirit of St Louis is a full brother to 2017 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Bar of Gold. With his victory, he became the 28th grade 1 winner for sire Medaglia d'Oro, who stands for $75,000 at Darley near Lexington.