Pegasus F/M Turf (Grade 2)- $500.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
January 24, 2026
All eyes will be on GP this weekend as the Pegasus World Cup takes place, but there is plenty of great racing that will happen on the undercard. Older turf females have their time in the spotlight as well in the Grade 2 Pegasus F/M Turf. The race had humble beginnings, going for just $60.000 as the Marshuas River Stakes in 2004 and would formally be called the Pegasus F/M Turf in 2022 and that year would see a large purse increase from $150.000 to the present level of $500.000. Last year, this race was won by Secret Of A Lady, for Mb Stables, and she had a productive season that would end with the BC Fillies and Mares Turf, and she was ultimately retired afterward. For this year, we will have a strong field of eleven, including a few that were also in that BC race. Here’s a look at those taking part:
1- Train Station (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M Franco)- A winner of two of her last three, including last time out in the $300.000 Cardinal at CD, where she got up just time for the win. She’s consistent, hitting the board in 10 of her 18 starts and will look to get first graded win, even though the Cardinal was a graded quality race. M Franco was aboard that day as well, and they’ll look for more of the same on Saturday.
2- Voltaire (Threshold, ridden by P Lopez)- In June, Voltaire was not playing around when she won the Grade 1 Just A Game at SAR, a result that went a long way into getting her in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. She was not at her best in the BC, and it would snap a streak of twelve consecutive races of hitting the board, something that dated back to March 2024. A new streak can be started here.
3- Painville (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by F Geroux)- After winning the BC Fillies and Mares Turf in 2023 and 2024, Painville made this the race that followed the big win. She’s done well in her two prior Pegasus F/M Turf appearances, running third in 2024, and second next year. Perhaps she can continue that trend forward and get one spot better again. It won’t come after a BC this time, though, and while she was winless in 2025, she still hit the board in six of nine races while being the runner up on four occasions. We look forward to seeing what her eight-year-old season will bring.
4- Lady Hilltopper (Black N Gold Stable, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Starting right next to the 2023 and 2024 BC Fillies and Mares winner, is Lady Hilltopper, who took that trophy home in 2025. Both Painville and Lady Hilltopper are very close in career earnings, as combined they are approaching $10,000.000 overall. For Lady Hilltopper, the BC was not the end of her season, as later in November, she won the Grade 1 Matriarch. She’s hot and doing everything right now, with four wins in her last six, and she will be tough for the others to contend with here.
5- Smokin Cherie (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Davis)- This four-year-old filly is looking to continue climbing the ladder in her young career. She’s only made ten starts, and six of them have ended up with her visiting the winner’s circle. More impressively, she not only rides a five-race winning streak but is a perfect 5-for-5 on the grass. That run began modestly, but her last two wins have been against graded competition up at AQU, in the Glen Cove in October and the Pebbles in November. She’s never faced this type of field, but she is obviously earned it and will be one to watch in 2026.
6- Lucille (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- Hoping for a change in form as she moves from the dirt to the turf here. Half of her four wins are on the grass, but you have to dig deep in her past performances to find them. Lucille has not won since 2024 and was very inconsistent last year. Only hit the board twice in ten starts, so maybe a new year can help, but this field is way too strong for me to consider picking her.
7- One Spirit (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- Quietly had a strong year in 2025, making 13 starts and winning six of them. A lot of those early races on the year came in overnights, but as the year went on, we would begin to see her take on stronger competition. Scored a big win in the $2,000.000 Ladies Marathon in September, and that would be where a large portion of her 2025 earnings came from. Didn’t run in the BC despite that, so that’s why I reference her year as being under the radar even with that September win. Certainly, capable of getting a piece of this purse.
8- Beach Towel (Winning Link Stables, ridden by B Curtis)- Took part in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf a couple months ago, thanks in large part to her win in the Grade 1 First Lady at KEE a month prior. Unfortunately, we did not see the same horse in the BC that had a strong stretch of five races leading into it. In the BC, she was defeated by seven lengths but took advantage of her opportunity to bounce back in the Grade 1 Matriarch and placed third in that one. I could see this going either way with her, since this is another BC quality field, but she handled that fine in the First Lady.
9- Mami (Alydar Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- Last year, her three year old season was at its best over the summer and fall, running consistently and earning wins in the Old Dominion Oaks at CNL, and then the Grade 1 QE II Challenge Cup at KEE. Those results would send her into the BC Fillies and Mares hot, and she would run quite well as she settled for a second-place dead heat with Poetic Panther. She’d run one more time on the year, on soft turf at the Grade 1 American Oaks and was second to Credit Crime. Definitely one to keep an eye on as she enters her four-year-old campaign.
10- Aime La Nature (Our Athletes, ridden by T Gaffalione)- While others in this field were running in the BC or in the Matriarch during the month of November, Aime La Nature was going wire to wire in an open allowance at DMR. That was a drop in class from having run primarily in Grade 2’s and 3’s over the course of the year. Her lone stake win in 2025 was in Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes here in March. This will be her toughest challenge to date.
11- Poetic Panther (Maletto, ridden by Jam Rodriguez)- We’ve already talked about so many good horses in this field, and we had not even gotten too Poetic Panther yet. In 35 races, this mare has been the definition of consistency, hitting the board on all but one occasions (which was a BC race) since March 2024. Overall, she has thirteen wins and three of them came last year, including the Grade 1 Diana at SAR and the $2,000.000 KD Ladies Turf. She’d go on to finish in a second-place dead heat at BC Fillies and Mares Turf with Mami. Rodriguez is her regular rider.
Prediction: 4-11-3-5
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES