Another Year of Change for Pegasus World Cup

With the fourth edition of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) just two weeks away, change is once again the operative word.

This will be the fourth time the 1 1/8-mile dirt race has offered a different purse. It was $12 million in 2017, jumped to $16.3 million the following year, dropped to $9 million in 2019, and now stands at $3 million for the Jan. 25 edition at Gulfstream Park.

Gone as well are the gargantuan entry fees that accompanied the first three editions, ranging from $1 million to $350,000.

Yet, for all that change, the Pegasus series of the dirt race and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1T) may have finally found a valuable commodity for any racing fixture: stability.

Even after The Stronach Group dropped a combined $12 million from the purses of the dirt and turf races and eliminated the use of the race-day medication Lasix in both contests, the response to the new format indicates the Pegasus has finally found a practical structure that it can ride into the future without controversy and rely on to preserve the races' status as one of the year's major events.

"There's so much interest in the races, even with the purse changes and no medication," Gulfstream Park vice president of racing operations Mike Lakow said. "I'm comfortable with both fields. I think we have a lot of terrific horses in both races. Three million dollars is a lot of money to run for, especially when you don't have to put up a dollar to run, and $1 million for the turf is a big number.

"Change occurs, and it can be a good thing. Right now, both of these races are as good as I could have expected." 

The Pegasus changes were announced Dec. 15 at a time when the race faced new competition for the best horses in training from the introduction of the Saudi Cup, a $20 million race with no entry fees. The Saudi Cup is scheduled for Feb. 29 at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A huge $10 million payday for the winner in a one-turn 1 1/8-mile dirt race was compelling enough to convince the connections of Maximum Security and McKinzie, among others, to target the Saudi Cup and also prompted TSG officials to revamp the Pegasus races.

"There's no doubt the Saudi race is hurting our race. In past years, we didn't have to deal with it," Lakow said. "But they are still spectacular races and deserve to be grade 1s. I anticipate the betting public is going to appreciate what will appear on the track, and it should be a fantastic day.

"There's changes taking place in the industry, and these are positive changes. Belinda (Stronach, TSG chairman and president) wanted to get ahead of the curves. When I first heard about the changes, I was skeptical and wasn't sure if the horsemen would be on board, but when I started calling trainers, they still wanted to come. It's a different deal when you are paying $400,000 or $500,000 to run in the race. Corporate is putting up the same amount of money as they did a year ago when it cost a half-million to run. Now it's a clean check for $4 million. It's new, it's different, but I'm very comfortable with the way things have come into place."

Invitations went out to 17 candidates for both the dirt and turf races, with 16 grade 1 winners among the 34 invitees.

Robert Donaldson's Spun to Run and Fox Hill Farms' Omaha Beach , who ran 1-2 in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), top the dirt race candidates, a group that is expected to include $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) winner Higher Power, 2019 Pegasus runner-up Seeking the Soul, Pennsylvania Derby (G1) victor Math Wizard, and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner Tax.  

"It looks like a fantastic race," Lakow said.

The turf race candidates have some international flavor through the presence of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier, and M.J. Jooste's Magic Wand, a 5-year-old mare who was second to Bricks and Mortar in last year's inaugural $6,708,329 million turf race.

Though Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) runner-up United is not expected to make the trip to Florida, Lakow anticipates a deep and talented field, including Arklow, Channel Cat, Henley's Joy, Instilled Regard, Mo Forza, Next Shares, Sadler's Joy, Starship Jubilee, Without Parole, Zulu Alpha, and Sacred Life.

"The turf race is truly amazing with a lot of grade 1 winners," Lakow said. "It's going to be a tremendous betting race, and I'm toying with the idea of running it after the dirt race instead of before it."

The Jan. 25 card at Gulfstream Park will include seven other stakes worth a combined $1.2 million.

As for the purse structure, after awarding $7 million to the first two winners (Arrogate  and Gun Runner ), City of Light  cashed in to the tune of $4 million for winning the 2019 race.

The upcoming payoff is expected to check in at about $1.6 million.

The structure for the dirt race starts with the sixth- through 10th-place finishers getting $50,000 if they are a graded stakes winner and $30,000 if they are graded stakes-placed. Once those payouts are set, the remaining money from the $3 million will be divided with 60% for the winner, 20% for second, 10% third, 5% fourth, 3% for fifth, and 2% going to Thoroughbred aftercare programs.

In the turf race, the sixth through 10th finishers will get $25,000 if they are graded stakes winners and $15,000 if they are stakes-placed. The remaining money from the $1 million will be divided using the same percentages as the dirt races.

One constant with the Pegasus remains the distance of the dirt race. Though winning at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park from an outside post can be a formidable task, Lakow resisted any temptation to lengthen the race to a distance such as 1 3/16 miles to provide a longer and better run to the first turn.

"I thought about making it 1 3/16 miles," Lakow said. "We discussed it, and last year the race was won by City of Light, who won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and what we didn't want to do is take milers away from the race. Omaha Beach is already stretching out to a mile and an eighth, and Spun to Run is basically a miler. If we lengthened the race, maybe we would lose some horses.

"We'll review it after the race, but it seems like the right distance for this year."

Lakow also said the Lasix ban basically proved to be a nonissue in assembling the fields.

"No Lasix in the two races was not an issue. The horsemen were fine with it," Lakow said. "It held one or maybe two horses back."

The Saudi Cup changing the landscape for the best older horses could lead to one other change. 

As of now, even with a reduced $3 million purse, there's still enough money on the line to keep the top horses in training after the Breeders' Cup or delay their arrival at stud. 

In past years, there was a 12-week break from the Breeders' Cup to the Pegasus, with another two months before the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1). Now, the Pegasus comes five weeks before the Saudi Cup, and Lakow wonders whether moving the Pegasus up a week might create better spacing for horsemen eyeing starts in the Florida race and one or both of the rich international races.

"I can't predict the future. I thought about moving the races up a week to give it six weeks to the Saudi Cup instead of five, but five weeks seems enough time to get a horse ready. We'll see how things turn out," Lakow said. "Our meet gets strong in January, so it's nice to have these great races in a prime part of our Championship Meet."

If everything works out, it should also be nice to have some stability in the years to come.