Favored Omaha Beach Draws Post 5 for Pegasus World Cup

In most stakes races, the post position draw is a relatively uneventful event.

When you have a moderate number of runners or a long run to the first turn, the impact of a tricky post can become much less of a problem.

Unfortunately for the hopes and dreams of a few folks, the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Gulfstream Park is not your typical stakes.

The Pegasus purse, even after a $6 million reduction from last year, is still a highly alluring $3 million, with no entry fee.

Yet for all that glitz and glamour from the dollar signs, the Pegasus also offers the dreaded one-two punch of a large field and a short run to the first turn in a 1 1/8-mile race that can compromise the chances of horses breaking from outside posts, explaining all of the screams, cheers, and sighs of relief Jan. 22 when the posts were drawn for the 12 starters in Saturday’s fourth edition of the Pegasus.

New this year, the Pegasus will be run free of medication, including the race-day, anti-bleeding medication Lasix

And, the horse who drew the short straw this year was Top Racing, Global Thoroughbreds, and GDS Racing Stable’s Bodexpress, which should not come as much of a surprise. After all, the son of Bodemeister  made quite a name for himself when he ran in the Preakness Stakes (G1) as a maiden and then proceeded to rear at the start, dumping jockey John Velazquez, and then circled the track without the benefit of a rider.

“He doesn’t get a lot of breaks,” trainer Gustavo Delgado said. “We expected him to be outside but not that far. He’s showing some speed from the gate, and that’s what you’ll need to win from post 12, so it’s not something we’ll worry about too much. It’s something you can’t control. Sometimes what seems like bad news turns out to be good news.”

For Fox Hill Farms’ Omaha Beach , the 7-5 morning-line favorite, the draw presented no real problem as the son of War Front  landed post 5 for the final start of his multiple grade 1-winning career.

“Five is a great number,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “I’m just happy to be in there.”

The importance of the posts is reflected in the results for horses who have broken from posts 9 through 12 in the first three runnings of the Pegasus. In past years, landing one of those posts left some horsemen resigned to defeat days before the race. Only one of the 12 horses from those spots managed to finish in the top three, and that was Gun Runner , who captured the 2018 Pegasus from post 10. The only other horse to finish better than fifth was Keen Ice , fourth in the 2017 Pegasus from post 9.

Gun Runner, though, was coming off a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and was a couple of days removed from being named the 2017 Horse of the Year. As illustrated by his 6-5 odds, he was much the best on that afternoon, something that cannot be said of the horses parked on the outside in Saturday’s race.

In contrast, two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome  drew post 12 for the inaugural Pegasus in 2017 and could do no better than cross the wire ninth.

For Robert P. Donaldson, owner of Spun to Run, who beat Omaha Beach in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) by 2 3/4 lengths, hearing that his horse wound up with post 9 had him jumping in the air, but not for any tactical advantage or disadvantage. It had more to do with a rather nifty bit of prognostication.

“Would anyone believe me if I said two days ago that I told my wife (Sue) that we would get post 9? Is that unreal? Getting post nine flipped me out,” Donaldson said.

And Sue Donaldson did indeed confirm her husband’s feat.

“He said we’d get post 9. He gets these premonitions,” she said. “Now if he can only get one about the lottery.”

Donaldson said he hasn’t seen a vision in his mind of how the Pegasus will turn out for his 4-year-old Hard Spun  colt, but he wasn’t fazed by a post that he hopes will be a lucky number for him.

“He has tactical speed. (Jockey Javier Castellano) will get him out of there,” Donaldson said. “Going into the first turn, he has enough speed to get where he needs to be.”

Mucho Gusto will race in the Pegasus for His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Khalid, who purchased the multiple grade 1-placed colt from previous owner Michael Lund Petersen, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed. Baffert said post 10 for his horse puts a premium on breaking cleanly and quickly. 

"I didn't want to be in the one hole, even though I won with the one hole (in the 2017 Pegasus with Arrogate ), but wherever you are, if you don't break there its curtains," Baffert said. "It's going to be a mad dash to the first turn. He breaks well and is speedy so hopefully he'll be fine. The break will be the key for everyone. It's exaggerated because of the short run to the turn."

The complete field for the Pegasus, with morning-line odds, is: 1 - True Timber (20-1), 2 -Tax (12-1), 3 - Diamond Oops (20-1), 4 - Seeking the Soul (30-1), 5 - Omaha Beach (7-5), 6 - Higher Power (6-1), 7 - War Story (30-1), 8 - Mr. Freeze (30-1), 9 - Spun to Run (7-2), 10 - Mucho Gusto (9-2), 11 - Tenfold (30-1) and, 12 - Bodexpress (30-1).

Entries: Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. presented by Runhappy (G1)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, January 25, 2020, Race 12

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $3,000,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:34 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1True Timber (KY)	Joe Bravo	124	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	15/1
2	2Tax (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	124	Danny Gargan	8/1
3	3Diamond Oops (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	124	Patrick L. Biancone	15/1
4	4Seeking the Soul (KY)	John R. Velazquez	124	Dallas Stewart	30/1
5	5Omaha Beach (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	Richard E. Mandella	1/1
6	6Higher Power (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	John W. Sadler	6/1
7	7War Story (KY)	Joel Rosario	124	Elizabeth L. Dobles	30/1
8	8Mr Freeze (KY)	Luis Saez	124	Dale L. Romans	20/1
98	9Spun to Run (KY)	SCRATCHED	0	UNKNOWN	-
10	10Mucho Gusto (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	Bob Baffert	9/2
11	11Tenfold (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	124	Steven M. Asmussen	30/1
12	12Bodexpress (KY)	Emisael Jaramillo	124	Gustavo Delgado	30/1