WORTHY VICTOR: Skippylongstocking’s victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park was a triumph years in the making. He had won 10 different stakes without a Level 1 victory and was making his fourth start in the Pegasus, with third place in 2025 his best result. The Exaggerator 7-year-old passed stablemate White Abarrio in the final sixteenth of a mile for a career-defining victory. Saffie Joseph Jr. Skippylangkous trains for owner Daniel Alonso. “He took us on a great ride,” said Alonso. “To win the Grade 1 here at home in front of our friends and family means everything.”
VALIANT IN DEFEAT: Last year’s Pegasus winner White Abarrio fell deep into his repeat bid and ran a game race in defeat. He finished second in his first start since a fifth-place finish Aug. 31 at Saratoga Race Course in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. The 7-year-old from Race Day, also trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., had been the subject of speculation and debate since he was scratched by vets before the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The winner of the 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic increased his career earnings to more than $7.7 million with the second-place finish. “I’m so proud of White Abarrio. I can’t believe the preparation he had, to come back like he just did,” Joseph said. “I’m just proud of both horses and happy for both owners.”
POETRY IN MOTION: Test Score and One Stripe gave trainer Graham Motion a win over the top two places in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes. Test score at odds of 7.60-1 kept its stablemate, the 4.30-1 second betting choice, necks clear to pass an important test. The four-year-old Lookin At Lucky colt has competed exclusively against three-year-olds in 2025, winning a Grade 1 and two other classifications, but facing older horses was a new challenge. “Today was a huge step for him,” said Motion. “I think he will be a force to be reckoned with. He has really been so consistent all year as a three-year-old. I think he has proven that he could be one of the best grass horses in the country.”
NO HEDGE KNIGHT: Make no mistake, Knightsbridge looks like a real knight – forgive the “Game of Thrones” reference, but “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is such a great show! – after extending his winning streak to three with a dominant 4 ¾-length romp as the 4-5 favorite in the $175,000 Fred W. Hooper Stakes presented by Visit Lauderdale on the Pegasus World Cup undercard. Pressured early by a fast pace in the mile-and-a-half dirt race by second betting pick Life and Times, Knightsbridge proved up to the task under a confident ride from Junior Alvarado. The five-year-old homebred Godolphin easily defeated his challenger and cruised to a convincing victory, his fifth in seven starts. Knightsbridge is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Speaker’s Corner, who won the Hooper in 2022, and his grandmother (maternal grandmother) is 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Round Pond.
DANCING BLUES: Disco and tap were outdone by the simple skip in the Pegasus World Cup, when Skippylongstocking showed the right moves with a long shot of 26.10-1, while promising four-year-olds Disco Time and Tappan Street disappointed in the $3 million race. Previously unbeaten Disco Time, the heavy 3-2 favorite in a 12-horse field, was fed up with finishing eighth after setting the pace and was 11 ¾ lengths behind the winner. Tappan Street, the second choice at 3.30-1 and the only horse to beat 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty, was in a good spot within five lengths of the pace after half a mile but faded to finish last. It was the first time Tappan Street ran outside the top two for Brad Cox, who trains both stallions. “Disappointed,” Cox said. “They went fast and [Disco Time] got no separation in the far bend. He just couldn’t get a divorce and move on. I thought Tappan Street was having a good trip. I was waiting for him to show up on the far bend, but that never happened.”
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