Pegasus World Cup Turf (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
January 25, 2025

With two BC winners in the Pegasus World Cup Turf, and many others that ran in BC races, an entertaining race was widely anticipated. Grand Opening won the BC Turf a couple of months ago and stayed fresh at PRX in the meantime in preparation of this showdown, hoping to do one spot better than he did in the Pegasus World Cup Turf last year. Mission accomplished! After stalking the leaders early, Grand Opening took home the victory for Riggins Racing and jockey F Pennington. For each, it is their first win in this race. Congratulations to them! The winning race time was 1:44.79, second only to the 2013 edition, which was a handicap and saw its winner carry seven fewer pounds. Here’s a look at how the race unfolded:

(½ Mile- :46.79)- King Luka breaks well out of the starting gate for Night Rider Stables as does his stablemate, Wimbledon. Running right there with them are John Henry’s Diamond Haggis and from the far outside the reigning BC Mile winner from Nakamura Stables, Jakarta, joins the group, giving us four running alongside one another around the opening turn. Right behind them are four more, and among them is the race’s eventual winner from Riggins Racing, Grand Opening. He runs on the inside of the group, and beside him, from inside to outside are Tower Isle (Winning Link Stables), King Que Niagra (D J C Racing Stables), and Killer Instinct (Mb Stables). Behind those stalkers, we have another three lined up, consisting of Gallant (Pan Farms), Jacks Courage (Mb Stables), and Hawaiian Lord (Our Athletes). Sioux Arrival (High Voltage) is next, with the post time favorite Charlie Jace (Mb Stables) behind him. It’s two more to the trailer, Albaquirky (Santan Stables).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.10)- Moving down the backstretch, Wimbledon gets the edge over the three he had been running with, but Diamond Haggis and King Luka are still within a length entering the turn. Jakarta, however, began to drop out of it, and that would cause King Que Niagra and Killer Instinct to have to move out a lane to keep from running into him. No such worries for Grand Opening and Tower Isle, as they were still able to closely stalk the frontrunners. In the middle of the pack, Gallant and Hawaiian Lord kept pace while Jacks Courage dropped a length behind them. Sioux Arrival began to show more interest on the outside. Charlie Jace, for now, maintained his ground, and we had not seen Albaquirkys customary late charge yet.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Rounding the turn, Wimbledon holds serve and enters the stretch all by himself, leading by a length. On the inside, Diamond Haggis runs second and is in an excellent position to strike, and the same could be said for King Luka right beside him. They are joined now by Tower Isle, who took advantage of Wimbledon’s drawing away to claim that track position he had been in. King Que Niagra was still hanging in there on the outside as well. Grand Opening still had not pushed forward yet, due to the fact that he did not have any room to do so, but perhaps an opportunity would be there in the stretch. Killer Instinct and Hawaiian Lord were looking to make runs more to the outside as Jakarta continued to slowly fade back. Sioux Arrival would take it about six wide behind them. Gallant and Jacks Courage ran evenly, and Charlie Jace looked for some room on the rail. Albaquirky would have it tough to make a close, given how spread out many of his rivals were already.

(Finish- 1:44.79)- With a furlong to go, Wimbledon was still leading by a length and hoping to hang on, but a lane would open up for a horse that he was hoping would not get such an opportunity. Grand Opening capitalized on the opening to the inside of King Luka, coming between that one and Diamond Haggis. Once there, he cleared those rivals and closed quickly on Wimbledon. The race was his at this point, as he was coming on too strong for Wimbledon, winning by about a length. Wimbledon will be second in a photo over King Que Niagra, who may have hit his best stride just a little too late. Charlie Jace was full of run late to be fourth, taking the same lane that Grand Opening had used. Tower Isle and Diamond Haggis seemed positioned to do more at the top of the stretch, but settle for 5th and 6th, respectively. Hawaiian Lord is next, then a dead heat between Killer Instinct and Sioux Arrival. The rest of the order reads Albaquirky, Gallant, King Luka, Jacks Courage, and Jakarta.

About The Winner- Grand Opening, trained by Riggins Racing and ridden to victory by F Pennington, is a six-year-old gelding by Grande Sournoise and is out of Beginning Of The End. He was bred by Team 7 Illusions as a first quarter two-year-old in Ontario, and was acquired by Riggins Racing, via Tockyocky, for $20.000 in a February 2023 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his seventeenth in 28 starts, his ninth stake win and eighth graded win. His career earnings are now $6,473.810.

Track: Firm
Time: :46³  1:10  1:33¹  1:44³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 12 Paid 144.50
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 12 – 4 Paid 778.10

Scratched: Devils Delight

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES