HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — After seven Pegasus World Cup events, it’s clearly time for a change.
1/ST Racing, which has hosted the entirety of the Pegasus series up to this point at Gulfstream Park, is planning two Pegasus Days in 2024, one at Gulfstream and the other at Santa Anita. Details aren’t finalized and it’s unclear how it would fit into the racing schedule, but 1/ST is planning both dirt and turf Pegasus races as part of the Santa Anita program.
Gulfstream Hosted the $3 Million Pegasus World Cup Invitational dirt Saturday, along with the $1 million Pegasus Turf and the $500,000 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf.
“I would really love to see us bring it to the West Coast,” said Belinda Stronach, 1/ST President and CEO. “That will probably happen in 2024. What we did this year for 2023 was say, ‘Okay, we’ve got some great days of racing, let’s coordinate them better and call it the 1/ST Racing Tour and recognize the great achievements within our own.” fingerprint.”
Saturday marked the first stop on that new 1/ST Racing Tour. Along with some of the biggest racing days at the 1/ST tracks, like the Florida Derby at Gulfstream on April 1, the Santa Anita Derby on April 8, and the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20, there are a couple of days the tour will run concurrently.
Next Saturday, Gulfstream will host the Holy Bull, while Santa Anita has the Robert B. Lewis, both Kentucky Derby prep races.
And on March 4, Gulfstream has the Fountain of Youth, another big Derby prep, while San Anita has the Big Cap. The plans call for coordinated post times at those two tracks on those days to provide the best racing action every 20 minutes, as well as some unique betting options.
“We can never rest on our laurels,” Stronach said. “We have to keep moving forward. We have a great team that is really committed.”
The Pegasus main career is one of the highest paying careers in North America. Art Collector claimed about $1.8 million of a $3 million purse with his win on Saturday. In 2022, only the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf featured larger prizes among US races, and the $3 million Pegasus purse matches what was offered last year past in the Kentucky Derby.
Regardless of what happens to Santa Anita’s plan for future Pegasus events, Stronach was adamant that Gulfstream will continue to have Pegasus days. There has even been talk of Gulfstream hosting Breeders’ Cup races again, something that hasn’t happened since 1999.
“This is staying here in Miami,” Stronach said. “Pegasus has a home here in Miami. We can’t move Pegasus from Miami. We have great partners here and it’s more than just a day now. We have deep roots here in Miami.”
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