Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Sharp Azteca joins Pegasus field
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The second running of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup suddenly got a little more interesting with the announcement that Cigar Mile winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Sharp Azteca will join a field that was already expected to include Horse of the Year favorite Gun Runner, Collected, and West Coast.
Sharp Azteca will run in a spot purchased by Ron Paolucci, who reached a lease agreement for the race with owner Ivan Rodriguez over the weekend. Paolucci has already leased War Story, a horse he owns in partnership, to Frank Stronach for the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus on Jan. 27.
“It’s a one-shot deal, for this race only,” Paolucci said. “Believe me, I’ll still be rooting for War Story to win the race. But as a racing fan, I feel having Sharp Azteca in the field makes this a better race. I also figured if he didn’t run in my spot, he’d have gotten in with someone else, perhaps in [Stronach’s] last spot, and we’d have had to compete against him anyway with our horse.”
Sharp Azteca and War Story both are trained by Jorge Navarro. Both worked five furlongs Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park West, with Sharp Azteca going in 1:00.31. War Story, as has been customary of late, clocked an easier move in 1:03.67.
“It’s a big relief knowing Sharp Azteca is now going to run in the Pegasus, so we can really start to focus on the race,” Navarro said. “The works were typical for both. I thought Sharp Azteca was going in about 1:02, that’s how easily he was moving out there. War Story is an old horse who keeps himself fit. I’ll put him with some company next week to give him a harder work before the race.”
Navarro said he currently does not have a commitment on a rider for Sharp Azteca. Javier Castellano guided Sharp Azteca to his 5 3/4-length triumph in the Cigar Mile and is the trainer’s first choice. Castellano also is being courted by the connections of West Coast, whom he rode to a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“I told Javier I’d love to have him,” Navarro said. “I also told him I’d hate to be in his shoes because it’s a really tough decision he’ll have to make.”
Strike Power has options
There may not have been a more impressive 2-year-old debut winner in 2017 than Strike Power, who won his only start by eight lengths while earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 23. The question now is what does trainer Mark Hennig do next with the speedy son of Speightstown?
Strike Power had his first breeze since that performance here last Friday, a very easy half-mile in 50.25.
“I’m not exactly sure what we’ll do with him next, although we are not looking to run him back real quick just because of that first effort,” Hennig said after training on Monday. “We gave him an easy breeze the other day just to give him something to do, and I’ll nominate him to the Swale. Obviously he has allowance conditions if we choose to go that way instead.”
The Grade 3 Swale will be decided at seven furlongs on Feb. 3.
Hennig said Strike Power had always trained well, but that he didn’t expect the kind of performance he got right off the bat.
“He looked like he was doing it so easily out there in his first start, although the final time obviously surprised me,” said Hennig. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse run a 102 the first time out, but then again not many have.”
Despite the fact that Strike Power ran only 5 1/2 furlongs in his debut, Hennig doesn’t feel the colt will have problems going longer. Hennig pointed out that Strike Power’s dam, Gold d’Oro, won at 1 1/4 miles.
“He never struck me as a speedy, speedy type,” said Hennig. “I ran him at 5 1/2 furlongs the first time because that’s the race that came up when he was ready to run.
“There’s no reason to think he won’t stretch out other than he ran a 102 Beyer going 5 1/2 furlongs the first time. We’ll take things one race at a time and if we were to run back at seven-eighths in the stakes and he handled it well, then we’d consider going farther, even trying him around two turns.”
Ortiz brothers are white hot
The Ortiz brothers combined to win nine races at Gulfstream Park this past weekend, five by Jose and four by Irad. Jose Ortiz captured a pair of stakes as part of a hat trick on Saturday’s card. Irad, who began riding here on a full-time basis just last Friday, posted doubles on both Saturday and Sunday.
Luis Saez continues to show the way in the jockey standings with 42 victories, eight more than Tyler Gaffalione.
Turf allowances featured
A pair of first-level optionalclaiming races highlight Wednesday’s 10-race program. Both are carded for the grass, although there was rain in the forecast for the local area both Tuesday and into Wednesday. There will be a carryover of $1,464,000 in the Rainbow 6.
Nootka Sound, idle since competing in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20, tops a field of nine 3-year-old fillies going five furlongs in the afternoon’s fourth race, with the speedy Richie’s lil wildcat and impressive maiden winner Mrs. Ramona G. perhaps her two chief rivals.
California invader Phantom Opening may be favored making her local debut at 7 1/2 furlongs in the ninth event, with main track-only entrant No Sweat the one to beat if the race is switched from the turf to the dirt.
◗ Multiple graded stakes winner Curlin’s Approval looked sharp working a very easy five furlongs in 1:00.52 here on Monday. Curlin’s Approval is being pointed toward the Grade 2 Hurricane Bertie on the Jan. 27 Pegasus undercard.