In Love, Lady Speightspeare Added to Pegasus Turf

Grade 1 winners In Love  and Lady Speightspeare , and Atone , fourth in this race by less than two lengths last winter, were among four horses elevated from reserves to the main invitation list for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) Saturday, Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Wednesday was the second of three invitation lists for Pegasus World Cup Day, a program featuring eight stakes, seven graded, worth $5.3 million in purse earnings including the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and $500,000 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T).

    

The final invitation list is Wednesday, Jan. 18. Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, Jan. 22.

Two-time defending champion Colonel Liam  continues to top the dozen invitees to the Pegasus Turf. Robert and Lawana Low's 6-year-old finished sixth in the Dec. 31 Fort Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream, his first race in 281 days. He is joined by City Man  and grade 1 winner Decorated Invader , respectively 1-2 in the Fort Lauderdale for trainer Christophe Clement.

Also remaining from the initial list are Ivar , a Brazilian-bred multiple group 1 winner in Argentina that won the 2020 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1T); Master Piece , winner of the Eddie Read Stakes (G2T) and second in the Del Mar Handicap (G2T); Hollywood Derby (G1T) winner Speaking Scout ; Who's the Star , riding a three-race win streak in the Durham Cup (G3), Autumn Stakes (G2) and Valedictory Stakes (G3) on Woodbine's all-weather surface; and 2022 Bay Shore Stakes (G3T) winner Wit , third by less than a length in the Hollywood Derby.

Jordan Wycoff's Atone has placed four times in graded stakes including the 2021 Fort Lauderdale and most recently the Mint Million Stakes (G3) last fall at Kentucky Downs. He ran fourth behind Colonel Liam, beaten 1 ¾ lengths, in the 2022 Pegasus Turf. Trainer Mike Maker won the Pegasus Turf with Zulu Alpha  in 2020.

Bonne Chance Farm and Stud R D I's In Love, trained by Paulo Lobo, hails from the same connections as Ivar. The 7-year-old gelding is another Brazilian-bred Argentine import that won the Keeneland Turf Mile (G1T) in 2021 and comes out of a three-quarter-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Prairie Bayou Stakes over Turfway Park's all-weather surface Dec. 17.

Charles Fipke's Lady Speightspeare is the lone female on the invitation list. The 5-year-old Speightstown   mare owns four career graded stakes wins—the 2020 Natalma Stakes (G1T) and 2022 Nassau Stakes (G2T), Trillium Stakes (G3), and Seaway Stakes (G3), all at Woodbine. She exits a third in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

Team Valor et. al's Hurricane Dream  has been group stakes-placed four times in Europe that has yet to race in the U.S. He was beaten a head when second in the one-mile Brunner Oettingen Rennen (G2) last September in Germany.

One More Bid  is a new addition to the reserve list that also includes Cellist , Dark Shift , Good Governance , King Cause , Law Professor , and Street Ready .

The Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf also saw four horses elevated from the initial reserve list—Kate's Kingdom , Lady Rockstar , Perseverancia , and Scotish Star . Kate's Kingdom ended 2022 with back-to-back stakes wins in the Ontario Matron Stakes (G3) at Woodbine and My Charmer Stakes at Turfway Park. 

British-bred Lady Rockstar, by Frankel, was second by a length to fellow invitee Stolen Holiday  in the Dec. 31 Suwannee River Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream. Perseverancia exits a runner-up finish to Dalika  in the Nov. 24 Cardinal Stakes (G3T) while Scotish Star finished sixth as the favorite in the Suwannee River.

New to the invite list is Bridlewood Farm's multiple stakes winner Bay Storm , who captured the Incredible Revenge Stakes last summer at Monmouth Park. 

Remaining from the initial invite list are Artie's Princess , Dalika, Justify My Love , Queen Goddess , Shantisara , Stolen Holiday and Wakanaka .

The lone horse on the reserve list is new addition Sweet Enough , owned by Trevor Harris and trained by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield. The 5-year-old mare won a trio of minor stakes in her native England and most recently earned her first North American victory in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance Dec. 29 at Gulfstream.