Shaman Ghost Works Bullet in Pegasus Prep

Stronach Stables' Shaman Ghost sped through a half-mile solo work in a bullet :47 3/5 at Palm Meadows Training Center Jan. 22, as he continues his preparations for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 28.

With regular exercise rider Kelvin Pahal in the irons, Shaman Ghost galloped out to five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 and recorded fractions of :11 4/5, :23 3/5, and :35 4/5, en route to the fastest time of 28 workers at the distance that day.

Jimmy Jerkens, who trains the millionaire, said it is likely Shaman Ghost will blow out "down the lane a little bit" at Gulfstream the day before the Pegasus, provided weather cooperates. Jerkens, like his late Hall of Fame father, Allen, typically blows out his runners a day or two before their races.

In Shaman Ghost's prior work Jan. 14, Jerkens drilled him in company with graded stakes winner Unified. The pair went five furlongs in 1:01 4/5.

 

"I thought today went good. I waved (Pahal) on and he finished up good and galloped out good," Jerkens said as he watched last year's Woodward Stakes (G1) winner being unsaddled back at the barn. "I wouldn't have minded if he had company today, either, but it just worked out that he didn't. He was willing enough on his own, so that was OK."

Jerkens commented on running Shaman Ghost in the Pegasus, a race created by the horse's owner and breeder, Frank Stronach, and said, "Sure, it's exciting ... and nerve-wracking, of course, because so much is at stake. But at least he's not 4-5. If it's nerve-wracking for me, how must it be for (Bob Baffert and Art Sherman)?"

The inaugural running of the world's richest race will feature a rematch between the Baffert-trained Arrogate and the Sherman-trained California Chrome  , after Arrogate defeated California Chrome—who won his second Horse of the Year title Jan. 21—in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) by a half-length.

NOVAK: Arrogate Upsets 'Chrome' in BC Classic

Shaman Ghost enters the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, his first race since finishing third in the Clark Handicap (G1) Nov. 23, with a record of 6-1-2 in 13 starts. The Canadian-bred won two graded races last year, the Woodward, and the Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (G2). Before coming to Jerkens' care for his 2016 campaign, Canadian-bred Shaman Ghost was victorious in the 2015 Queen's Plate Stakes and Marine Stakes (G3).

NOVAK: Shaman Ghost Upsets Woodward

Bred in Ontario by Stronach's Adena Springs, Shaman Ghost is a son of the Hall of Fame champion and sire Ghostzapper   and is out of the Gilded Time mare Getback Time.