In the days leading up to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, usracing.com is publishing profiles of the horses in the race set for Saturday, Jan. 29. The profiles will be updated with morning-line odds and post positions following the draw on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
By Margaret Ransom
Stilleto Boy – Photo courtesy of Coady photography
Stilleto Boy has been knocking on the door to gain entrance into the big kids’ club for the better part of the last six months. He’ll get another chance in the Pegasus World Cup.
The 4-year-old gelding, a son of 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford, won the Grade 3 Iowa Derby and ran second in the Grade 1 Awesome Again and third in the Grade 1 Malibu last time out.
When he took on the top horses in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6, he was a non-threatening fifth of eight, 13 ½ lengths behind the winner Knicks Go, the favorite in Saturday’s Pegasus. Running third in the Malibu could be deceptive since it was Flightline winning by 11 ½ lengths, with Stilleto Boy a length behind runner-up Baby Yoda. We don’t know how good Flightline can be at this point, so on paper the loss was unlikely due to a poor effort. Possibly, a repeat of his Malibu effort could produce a decent payday at a better distance for him going around two turns.
With options of earning an invite to both the $20 million Saudi Cup next month and the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the next few months, the Pegasus is a good race to open his 4-year-old campaign.
Betting advice: This could be a tough spot for a front-runner that has to try to keep pace with the favorites Knicks Go and Life Is Good. May have enough to get a piece of the pie (fourth is worth $145,000).
Post position: 3
Odds: 20-1
Jockey: Kent Desormeaux
Trainer: Ed Moger, Jr.
Owner: Steve Moger
Career record: 12-2-3-4
Career earnings: $540,675
Top Equibase speed figure: 106
Pedigree: Shackleford-Rosie’s Ransom, by Marquetry
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Front-runner/stalker
Notes: Owner Steve Moger, who is trainer Ed Moger Jr.’s brother, paid $420,000 for the then 3-year-old gelding at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July selected horses of racing age sale last year… This will be a first starter for both owner and trainer in the race… Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has won just about every major stakes event in his career but will be riding in his first Pegasus World Cup.
California native and lifelong horsewoman Margaret Ransom is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program. She got her start in racing working in the publicity departments at Calder Race Course and Hialeah Park, as well as in the racing office at Gulfstream Park in South Florida. She then spent six years in Lexington, KY, at BRISnet.com, where she helped create and develop the company’s popular newsletters: Handicapper’s Edge and Bloodstock Journal.After returning to California, she served six years as the Southern California news correspondent for BloodHorse, assisted in the publicity department at Santa Anita Park and was a contributor to many other racing publications, including HorsePlayer Magazine and Trainer Magazine. She then spent seven years at HRTV and HRTV.com in various roles as researcher, programming assistant, producer and social media and marketing manager.
She has also walked hots and groomed runners, worked the elite sales in Kentucky for top-class consignors and volunteers for several racehorse retirement organizations, including CARMA.In 2016, Margaret was the recipient of the prestigious Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, sponsored by Team Valor, and was an Eclipse Award honorable mention for her story, “The Shocking Untold Story of Maria Borell,” which appeared on USRacing.com. The article and subsequent stories helped save 43 abandoned and neglected Thoroughbreds in Kentucky and also helped create a new animal welfare law in Kentucky known as the “Borell Law.”Margaret’s very first Breeders’ Cup was at Hollywood Park in 1984 and she has attended more than half of the Breeders’ Cups since. She counts Holy Bull and Arrogate as her favorite horses of all time.She lives in Robinson, Texas, with her longtime beau, Tony. She is the executive director of the 501(c)(3) non-profit horse rescue, The Bridge Sanctuary.