Sizing Up Turf Races on Pegasus Preview Card

The last Saturday before Christmas is "Pegasus Preview Day" at Gulfstream Park, which cards five stakes leading up to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Pegasus Turf Jan. 29.

Four of the five stakes at Gulfstream Dec. 18 are graded, including the Ft. Lauderdale (G2T) and Suwanee River (G3T) on turf. In between those grass races are three races on dirt-the Rampart (won last year by Letruska), the Sugar Swirl (G3) and Harlan's Holiday (G3).

Rain is in the forecast Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack, where the Great White Way and Fifth Avenue divisions of the New York Stallion Series for progeny of New York-based stallions will be run. They are each worth $500,000, making them the richest races of the winter at the Big A.

Suwanee River (GP, race 5, 1:54 ET): Shifty She  (3) won a couple minor stakes on the local course earlier this year, and transferred that form to Belmont Park to wire the Noble Damsel (G3T) last out. The 5-year-old daughter of Gone Astray   enters off a career-best Equibase Speed Figure (110) for meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., and totes top weight of 125 pounds under the allowance conditions as the 3-1 morning-line choice.

It seems as though Sweet Melania  (10) and Princess Causeway  (11) are capable of keeping Shifty She busy up front. That could bode well for off-the-pace types such as In a Hurry  (2), Keeper of Time  (4) and Alms  (7).

In a Hurry failed to fire when fourth in the Noble Damsel, but still paired up a career-best Beyer Speed Figure. Morever, that race continued an overall pattern of improvement since trainer Shug McGaughey added blinkers to her equipment four races ago.

Keeper of Time, an Irish-bred filly by Mehmas —and, surprisingly enough, the only foreign-bred in the field—stretches back out after finishing third in the seven-furlong Glen Cove Stakes, in which she clocked an internal half-mile in under 45 seconds and narrowly missed second.

Alms was sidelined for more than 15 months, and looks to be cycling back to top form after meeting finishing behind horses who would win next-out stakes in Brooke Marie  (Pan Zareta Stakes) and Breeze Rider  (My Charmer Stakes) in two comeback runs.

A - 2, 7

B - 3, 4

NYSS Fifth Avenue (Aqu, race 8, 3:37 ET): Out-of-town invaders Morning Matcha  (6) and Howdoyoumakeurmoney (7) are both two-time winners, and they will obviously attract solid support in a field that includes five maiden fillies.

One of those maidens, Yo Cuz  (5) rates consideration after breaking slowest of 12 in her debut, lagging far back early and rallying between horses (twice!) in the stretch to wind up fifth, followed by a promising gallop-out. She is trained by Bill Mott, who earlier this year won two Florida Stallion Series events with Outfoxed , after she too was off slow and rallied belatedly in her maiden bow.

The prospect of a wet track is good news for Laoban's Legacy  (3), who relished the slop when wiring maidens at Saratoga Race Course first out. She chased multiple winner Beneath the Stars  at Laurel Park first time back from a freshening, and may shake loose early against these.

A - 3, 5

B - 6, 7

Ft. Lauderdale (GP, race 10, 4:32 ET): Doswell  (1) and Breaking the Rules  (3) were noses apart when second and third in this race last year, and are on backup tickets along with Analyze It  (8). 

Analyze It would like to free-wheel up front, so his fate could hinge on the tactics of King Guillermo  (9). The latter has never reaffirmed the form that won him the 2020 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) at 49-1, but he almost surely will have an impact on the early pace.

Our focus will be on L'Imperator  (2) and Space Traveller  (12), who, as it happens, are the two European-breds entered.

L'Imperator was slow to settle when third in the Knickerbocker (G3T) two back, but improved when Chad Brown removed the blinkers in a win over allowance-optional claiming company last out, drawing off under a mild drive despite racing wide throughout.

Space Traveller gets some class relief after respectable efforts in three grade 1 races to begin his U.S. career. The 5-year-old by Bated Breath  zipped five furlongs in 58 seconds in a workout at Palm Meadows Dec. 10. There is an ample run to the first turn in 1 1/8-mile grass races at Gulfstream, which should afford him a chance to secure decent early position.

A - 2, 12

B - 1, 3, 8