HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida. – After seven Pegasus World Cup events, it’s obviously time for a change.
1/ST Racing, which has previously hosted the entire Pegasus Series at Gulfstream Park, is planning two Pegasus Days in 2024 – one in Gulfstream and the other in Santa Anita. Details are yet to be finalized and it’s unclear how it would fit into the race calendar, but 1/ST is planning both sand and grass Pegasus races as part of the Santa Anita program.
Gulfstream hosted the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Dirt Saturday, along with the $1M Pegasus Turf and the $500K Pegasus Colt and Mare-Turf.
“I’d really like to see us bring it to the West Coast,” said Belinda Stronach, President and CEO of 1/ST. “That will probably happen in 2024. What we did this year for 2023 was, ‘Okay, we’ve got a bunch of great racing days, let’s coordinate this better and call it the 1/ST Racing Tour and recognize great achievements in our own footprint.’
Saturday was the first stop on this new 1/ST Racing Tour. Alongside some of the biggest racing days at 1/ST tracks – like Florida Derby day at Gulfstream on April 1st, Santa Anita Derby day on April 8th and Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 20th – there are two days , on which the tour takes place run simultaneously.
Next Saturday Gulfstream will host the Holy Bull while Santa Anita will have the Robert B. Lewis – both Kentucky Derby prep races.
And on March 4th, Gulfstream has the Fountain of Youth, another big derby prep, while San Anita has the big cap. Coordinated post times are planned on these two tracks on these days to offer 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 Feature Race is one of the highest paying races in North America. Art Collector claimed about $1.8 million from a $3 million purse on Saturday’s win. In 2022, among US races, only the $6M Breeders’ Cup Classic and $4M Breeders’ Cup Turf have had larger prizes, and the $3M prize pool for Pegasus matches that Prize money offered at last year’s Kentucky Derby.
Regardless of what happens to the Santa Anita plan for future Pegasus events, Stronach insisted Gulfstream will continue to have Pegasus days. There was even talk of Gulfstream hosting Breeders’ Cup races again, something that hasn’t happened since 1999.
“This stays here in Miami,” Stronach said. “Pegasus has a home here in Miami. We can’t move Pegasus out of 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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