One Stripe has drawn a prized No 4 gate for Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park and has been quoted at 12-1 in early betting odds on the R1-million, Grade 1 contest – fifth in the line of favouritism in a 12-horse field.
In the excitement over South Africa’s champion jockey Gavin Lerena flying across the Atlantic to ride his equine compatriot and old partner in the US, some confusion has arisen about what exactly is happening in Florida at the weekend.
For the sake of clarity, One Stripe and Lerena will NOT be lining up in the internationally famous Pegasus World Cup, but rather in the main supporting feature, the Pegasus World Cup TURF.
Both races are Grade 1 contests over 1800m, but the former, more celebrated, event, raced on a dirt track, is for a stake of $3-million while the latter (on grass) has prizemoney of $1-million. Slightly less confusing is the third big event on the day’s 13-race card, the Pegasus World Cup Fillies & Mares Turf worth $500,000.
For local fans of One Stripe and Gavin, a Grade 1 victory in the US will hardly be diminished by this distinction and will be further confirmation of the world-class quality of SA-bred thoroughbreds and jockeys.
Richest race in the world
The annual race meeting at Hannandale Beach, Florida, is described in promo bumph as South Florida’s premier horse racing and social event and one of the “most influential” events in the US game. It gets its name from a 30m-high statue of the Greek mythological horse in the grounds of Gulfstream Park.
Saturday’s event marks the 10th running of the Pegasus World Cup, which first hit world headlines in 2016 as the richest race in the world – its $12-million purse surpassing that of the Dubai World Cup. The prize pot rose to $16-million in 2018, but dropped to $9-million in 2019. Thereafter, entry fee structures and rules changed – including from buy-in to invitational – and the supporting Turf races were added and took slices of the stakes.
Program Trading (GB), a three-time Grade 1 winner from the stable of top American trainer Chad Brown, was made 5-2 morning-line favourite for the Turf after drawing gate 2 on Sunday.
One Stripe, owned by SA’s Hollywood Racing and Rikesh Sewgoolam and now a five-year-old, registered two Grade 1 victories in Cape Town for trainer Vaughan Marshall before shipping to the US in search of further glory. He got his first North American win – for Maryland-based trainer Graham Motion – in his third try, trotting up by nearly six lengths in a one-mile claiming/allowance plate on Boxing Day on the Gulfstream turf.
Saturday sees the son of One World go beyond 1600m for the first time.
Motion saddles two runners in the Turf: One Stripe and four-year-old Test Score (draw 1, 8-1). The latter, to be ridden by Manuel Franco, captured the Belmont Derby (Grade 1) to open his 2025 season and capped it finishing third by a half-length in the November 29 Hollywood Derby (Grade 1).
