$1.5M Purchase Whiskey Decision Leads Pegasus F&M Turf

Like the other Pegasus World Cup races Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park, the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G2T) is overflowing with entries. A dozen fillies and mares are in the body of the field, and another two wait on standby as also-eligibles in the 10th race on the 13-race card.

Competitiveness runs deep, indicative of the morning-line oddsmaker Brian Nadeau tabbing grade 3 winner Whiskey Decision  as the scant 9-2 anticipated public choice. Front-running In Our Time , third last year's Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, is 5-1, and a host of other challengers are not far behind in the odds pecking order.

"There's absolutely no heavy favorite," said trainer Jose D'Angelo, who runs 2025 Suwannee River Stakes winner Crevalle d'Oro , who is forecasted to start at odds around 12-1.

Contested at 1 1/16 miles on Gulfstream's grass course, the Filly and Mare Turf Invitational is one of 10 stakes Saturday at Gulfstream.

Besides the three Pegasus World Cup races, there are four other graded events: the $175,000 Christophe Clement Stakes (G3T) for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles on turf, the William L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) for males over the same trip for $225,000, the $175,000 Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3) at a mile on dirt, and the $225,000 Inside Information Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares over 7 furlongs on dirt.

Whiskey Decision, trained by Chad Brown, who saddled Regal Glory  to victory in the inaugural Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf in 2022, won the Eatontown Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park over the summer before a fourth at Saratoga Race Course in the Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T). The Into Mischief   mare returns following a layoff after capturing the Sept. 14 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Two months ago, Alpha Delta Stables bought Whiskey Decision for $1.5 million from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to the 2025 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. She previously raced for owners/breeders Fred Hertrich III and John Fielding.

In 2025, Brown took over her training from Arnaud Delacour, for whom she went 3-for-7.

Resolute Racing and Miller Racing's In Our Time has competed twice since Whiskey Decision took a racing hiatus, placing in both the 5 1/2-furlong Franklin Stakes (G2T) Oct. 12 at Keeneland and the 1-mile Matriarch Stakes (G1T) Nov. 30 at Del Mar. The Not This Time   mare is 1-1-1 in four starts over 1 1/16 miles on grass.

Two other Matriarch competitors, fourth-place Breath Away  and fifth-place Heredia , are other contenders in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, as is 2024 King's Plate Stakes winner Caitlinhergrtness .

In the supporting graded stakes action:

• George Messina and Michael Lee's grade 1 winner Fionn , who made nearly $2 million last year during her 3-year-old campaign for trainer Brad Cox, is the Christophe Clement Stakes headliner.
• Godolphin's Knightsbridge  seeks a follow-up victory to his Dec. 27 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) triumph in the Fred W. Hooper Stakes for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
• Zverev  is a stretch-out threat for trainer Mike Maker and owners Paradise Farms and David Staudacher in the William L. McKnight Stakes.
• 2025 Charles Town Oaks (G2) winner Indy Bay  returns to her preferred sprint trip in the Inside Information after being eased in the 1 1/16-mile Cotillion Stakes (G1) last fall in a sole attempt at the route. The Agave Racing Stable, Miller Racing, and BAG Racing Stables-owned Take Charge Indy   filly has been working swiftly this winter for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.