Author: Lindsay Griffin

Tim Yakteen had a pretty heavy hand going into the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita last Saturday.

Yakteen is a former assistant to controversial trainer Bob Baffert, and for the last two years, has been the main beneficiary of Baffert’s ban from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. If you know how to bet on the 2023 Kentucky Derby you are probably familiar with Baffert’s name.

Both last year and this year, Baffert had a large group of talented horses, but was unable to race or even qualify them for the first jewel of America’s Triple Crown. Instead, Baffert was made to transfer his Derby-bound charges to other trainers. For most of them, he chose Yakteen.

Among the horses now running in Yakteen’s name were Hejazi, Fort Bragg, and Mr. Fisk, who ran in the San Felipe- as well as the horse who likely would have been favored had he not suffered a minor injury the day of the race, National Treasure.

It was not surprising, therefore, that Yakteen found himself in the winner’s circle that afternoon. What was, perhaps, a bit more of a shock was that he went there by way of Practical Move – a colt Yakteen himself had been training all along.

Is Practical Move a Kentucky Derby contender or pretender? You decide.

Pedigree Pros

There is a lot to like about Practical Move’s pedigree. His sire, Practical Joke, was a multiple grade I stakes winner who specialized in races around a mile in which he could come from off the pace. His damsire, Afleet Alex, won graded stakes at six and seven furlongs at two and went on to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes at three. Practical Move’s bloodlines display a good balance of speed and stamina.

Pedigree Cons

Practical Joke is a third crop sire this year, and while he has done well, he has yet to ascend to the top ranks. His only Grade I winner is the filly Chocolate Gelato, winner of the Grade I Frizette Stakes over a sloppy Belmont track last fall, who followed up that win with a last-place effort in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and has not returned to the track since.

Race Record Pros

Practical Move’s run in the San Felipe was the work of a professional racehorse. He suffered a bad start, hitting the gate as the race began, but he overcame his trouble to do what a champion does: win. He stalked the pace set by Hejazi alongside eventual runner-up Geaux Rocket Ride, made his bid at the quarter pole, and never looked back. He appears to have the grit and patience that can go quite far in the Kentucky Derby.

He also has a fairly sound foundation as a two-year-old. After breaking his maiden via DQ in his third start (having had the misfortune of racing against Cave Rock and National Treasure in his first two attempts), Practical Move finished third in the Grade III Bob Hope Stakes on November 20th, and then won the Grade I Los Alamitos Futurity on December 17th.

Race Record Cons

The class of the West Coast three-year-olds is, at this point, debatable. None of the horses that Practical Move has defeated have flattered him much in subsequent performances. Carmel Road, who was second best in the Los Alamitos Futurity, finished a dull eighth in the Grade III Gotham Stakes as the second choice.

Fort Bragg, third in the Los Alamitos Futurity, ran fifth in the San Felipe. Tall Boy, who followed Fort Bragg in fourth did go on to win the Group III UAE Two Thousand Guineas against another field of questionable quality; Arabian Lion, who was last, also ran last in his next start, the Grade II Robert B. Lewis Stakes.

The Welsh Grand National, run over 3 miles 6½ furlongs at Chepstow, is the most valuable race of the year in Wales, worth a total of £150,000 in prize money. Fittingly, its roll of honour includes some of the finest staying chasers since World War II, including Burrough Hill Lad, Master Oats, Synchronised and Native River.

However, just one winner, Dream Alliance, who stayed on well to win by threequarters a length in 2009, has received the ‘Hollywood treatment’ and been the subject of not one, but two, films. His unlikely, rags-to-riches story was first told in the 2015 documentary ‘Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance’ and retold, in fictionalised form, in the 2020 drama ‘Dream Horse’, starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis.

Dream Alliance was bred and owned by Brian and Jan Vokes, who banded together with friends and colleagues from Cefn Fforest, near Caerphilly, to form the Alliance Partnership. Raised on a local allotment, Dream Alliance entered training with Somerset handler Philip Hobbs as a three-year-old. He won a couple of times over hurdles and over fences but, as a seven-year-old, suffered a life-threatening tendon injury, requiring revolutionary, and expensive, stem cell treatment.

Nevertheless, Dream Alliance returned to training 19 months later, as an eight-year-old, finishing a tired second over hurdles on his reappearance at Chepstow in April, 2009. Nevertheless, he took his chance in the Welsh Grand National the following month and gave his owners the thrill of a lifetime by winning at odds of 20/1.

Legendary Pegasus Horse | Pexels.com

The Pegasus Cup ran for the first time on January 28^th, 2017, at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The first winner was Arrogate. Arrogate holds the race record in 1:46.83, which also became the track record at Gulfstream Park.

The 2023 Pegasus Cup will return this January 28^th, and it has already started making waves around the horse race world. What do you know about this new but prestigious horse race competition? Read on.

The Pegasus Cup— Brief Review

This horse race has been the race with the highest prize of all horse races worldwide for the last two consecutive years.

In 2017 the Pegasus Cup was created with a new model where 12 investors each pay $1 million directly into the prize pool. In 2018 the prize pool increased to $16 million, with the Stronach Group adding $4 million to make the prize even more attractive.

However, in 2019, the size of the bag decreased from 16 million dollars to 9 million dollars due to the non-sale of all spaces in the 2018 edition.

However, in the 2023 Pegasus Cup edition, the race winner will take 1 million dollars from the purse money. Even though it is a significant reduction from some of its previous editions, it is still huge and bigger than most horse race purse money worldwide.

Pegasus Cup Facts and Statistics

Going into the Pegasus horse race 2023, here are a few statistics and facts about the Pegasus Cup’s previous editions:

• The grade I race is for horses four years or older.

• They run 1 1/8 miles (1,800 meters) on land.

• The Breeders’ Cup Classic is usually a rematch of first and second place.

• The Pegasus Cup is, for many equines, the last race of their lives. After the race, many horses are withdrawn from competition to begin life as a stud.

• No horse has won the Pegasus Cup twice since it started in 2017.

• Only Irad Ortiz Jr (rider) has won the race twice in 2020 and 2022, but with different race horses.

• The fastest winning record time for the Pegasus Cup was set in its inaugural year by Arrogate with a race record of 1:46.83.

• Since the Pegasus Cup’s founding, only US racehorse riders have won the purse money.

Pegasus World Cup History Past Winners

The Pegasus cup has had six previous editions, which have offered exciting races. Below are the Pegasus Cup’s previous winners, their race-winning time, the horse rider, and the winning year.

Year	Winner	Horse Rider	Time
2017	Gunrunner	Florent Geroux	1:47.41
2018	Arrogate	Mike E Smith	1:46.83
2019	City Of Light	Javier Castellano	1:47.71
2020	Mucho Gusto	Irad Ortiz Jr	1:48.85
2021	Knicks Go	Joel Rosario	1:47.89
2022	Life Is Good	Irad Ortiz Jr	1:48.91

Conclusion

The Pegasus Cup is one of the most significant horse race events in 2023 and is a must-follow for horse race lovers. The competition, named after the legendary horse Pegasus, has drawn top racehorses globally and celebrities to the event, and we expect the same for this year’s edition. Would you be interested in watching or attending this prestigious cup competition? We will be happy to hear your thoughts.

The Lincoln Handicap, formerly the Lincolnshire Handicap, was run for the first time in its current guise, over a mile, at Lincoln Racecourse in 1855. The race was transferred to Doncaster Racecourse in 1965, following the closure of its original venue the previous year. Traditionally, the Lincoln Handicap was the curtain raiser to the British Flat season and, while Flat racing now takes place all year ’round, the historic race still marks the start of the turf season.

In the late-nineteenth century, jockey turned trainer William ‘Jack’ Robinson won the Lincoln Handicap three years running, courtesy of Clorane (1896), Winkfield’s Pride (1897) and Prince Barcaldine (1898). He won the race for a fourth time with Cinderello (1910) and remains, jointly, the most successful trainer in the history of the Lincoln Handicap.

More recently, Newmarket trainer William Haggas, who joined the training ranks in his own right in 1986, has also saddled four winners of the Lincoln Handicap. Haggas opened his account with High Low (1992) and, after a lengthy hiatus, followed up with Very Wise (2007), Penitent (2010) and Addeybb (2018); the 2007 Lincoln Handicap was run at Newcastle, on the old turf course, during the redevelopment of Doncaster. Penitent went on to win two Group 2 races for David O’Meara, while Addeybb, who remains in training as an 8-year-old, is a four-time Group 1 winner at home and abroad.