G1 Winner Regal Glory Leads Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf
Image:
Description:
Photo: Benoit Photo
Regal Glory takes the Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar
The Pegasus program takes another step forward Jan. 29 with the addition to the card of the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational presented by Pepsi (G3T), a 1 1/16-mile test with a $500,000 purse and a large, competitive field.
The race is part of a seven-stakes Gulfstream Park slate worth a combined $5.2 million and carrying implications for big races from Saudi Arabia and Dubai back to the rest of the year in North America.
Regal Glory drew Post 4 for the Filly & Mare Turf and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The 6-year-old mare, by Animal Kingdom out of the More Than Ready mare Mary's Follies , hasn't raced since winning the Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 28. She has been working steadily for trainer Chad Brown at Payson Park.
Regal Glory sports a record of nine wins from 16 starts. She was second in her only previous start at Gulfstream Park in the Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3T) in just her third career start in February 2019.
The Matriarch win came as part of a seven-horse Brown assault on Del Mar's closing-weekend turf program and featured a front-running performance by Regal Glory, who was purchased by Peter Brant's White Birth Farm for $925,000 in January of 2021 in the disbursement of the late Paul Pompa's stable as part of the Lane's End consignment.
Sweet Melania is the second choice on the morning line at 5-1, closely followed at 6-1 by Nicest and Shifty She .
Sweet Melania, a 5-year-old American Pharoah mare from Todd Pletcher's barn, has been stabled at Palm Beach Downs since late in 2021 and returned from a two-month layoff to win the Suwanee River Stakes (G3T) over the Gulfstream grass Dec. 18.
"I thought her last race was one of her best," Pletcher said. "I think she's actually coming into this one even better. This will be a more demanding race but she's training like she's made a move forward since the last one."
Shifty She, who surrendered the lead late in the Suwanee River, returns for another try in the Pegasus while adding a sixteenth.
Shifty She, a 6-year-old daughter of Gone Astray from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn, won the Noble Damsel Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park Oct. 23 for her first graded stakes score. She won three of four starts in her 3-year-old season before losing the 2020 campaign to a tendon injury.
"We got her back and she is just a pleasure to be around," said Chris Pallas, co-owner and co-breeder. "She's just a very smooth horse. When you watch her, she glides over the grass. She's very graceful and she loves what she's doing. That's really her mindset. She's all about the business and she loves to run."
Nicest, a 4-year-old filly by American Pharoah who races for Japan's Katsumi Yoshida, exits a second-place finish in the off-the-turf American Oaks (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park. She finished third in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (G1) at the Curragh in June before shipping to the United States and joining trainer Michael McCarthy.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, January 29, 2022, Race 9Entries: TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S. presented by PEPSI (G3T)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Sweet Melania (KY)
Luis Saez
121
Todd A. Pletcher
5/1
2
2Wakanaka (IRE)
UMBERTO RISPOLI
121
William I. Mott
12/1
3
3Lady Speightspeare (KY)
Junior Alvarado
119
Roger L. Attfield
8/1
4
4Regal Glory (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
123
Chad C. Brown
2/1
5
5Gift List (GB)
Julien R. Leparoux
121
Brian A. Lynch
15/1
6
6Alms (KY)
Joel Rosario
119
Michael Stidham
20/1
7
7Nicest (IRE)
Tyler Gaffalione
119
Michael W. McCarthy
6/1
8
8Summer in Saratoga (KY)
Corey J. Lanerie
121
Joe Sharp
12/1
9
9Shifty She (FL)
Edwin Gonzalez
121
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
6/1
10
10In a Hurry (KY)
Javier Castellano
119
Claude R. McGaughey III
12/1
11
11Bipartisanship (GB)
Paco Lopez
119
H. Graham Motion
20/1
