Bodexpress, Tenfold, Midcourt Invited to Pegasus

Graded stakes winners Tenfold and Midcourt and grade 1-placed Bodexpress, a popular local favorite, were added Jan. 12 to the formal list of horses invited to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

The Jan. 25 Pegasus, a 1 1/8-mile race for 4-year-olds and up on the main track, is part of the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series along with the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1T) for 4-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles on the grass. The latter race also had changes to its list of invitees.

The Pegasus World Cup Day program includes nine stakes—six graded—worth $5.2 million.

C R K Stable's Midcourt, based in California with trainer John Shirreffs, was placed among a dozen horses on the main list. A 5-year-old son of champion sprinter Midnight Lute , Midcourt put together four consecutive wins last summer and fall, capped by the Nov. 23 Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar. Most recently, he finished third in the Dec. 28 San Antonio Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park.

Also new to the Pegasus lineup are Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tenfold and Top Racing, Global Thoroughbreds, and GDS Racing Stable's Bodexpress, each added to the list of reserve invitees.

Tenfold, who won the 2018 Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) and 2019 Pimlico Special Stakes (G3), is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who won the second renewal of the Pegasus in 2018 with Gun Runner .

Bodexpress, trained by Gulfstream Park West-based Gustavo Delgado, finished second behind Maximum Security in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) last spring and made headlines after losing Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez at the start of the Preakness Stakes (G1). After some time off, he scored back-to-back victories against maiden special weight and allowance company before a third-place finish in the Dec. 14 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream.

Maximum Security, Gift Box, Roadster, and Bravazo are no longer on the list of invitees.

Three horses on the reserve list were moved up to the main body of the race—Diamond Oops, True Timber, and War Story. Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis' War Story, a multiple graded stakes winner of nearly $3 million, finished fifth and 10th, respectively, in the 2017 and 2018 Pegasus.

In the Pegasus Turf, Amerman Racing's Admission Office and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Bethlehem Stables' Sacred Life were moved up from the also-eligible list to the main list of invitees.

New to the list are Pin Oak Stable's Synchrony, Jordan Wycoff's Tusk, and Calumet Farm and John Anthony Stables' American Tattoo.

United, Starship Jubilee, A Thread of Blue, and Lucullan are no longer on the list of Turf invitees.