The Pegasus F&M Turf – Grade III
GP Race #11 1 1/16m Turf Graded Stake
Purse $500.000 For Fillies And Mares Four Years Old And Upward.

1 Maggie Greene The Sidley Stud Wilson E J 124 —

Now an eight-year-old she is one of the living legends in the game with 18 wins and well over 4K in prize money and even though she has now reached the veteran stage she keeps turning back the clock every year and cannot be written off for a bit of rheumatism and a bus pass. She normally starts her season in the Very One but this year, as it may be her last, she finds herself in the second biggest turf fillies and mares race of the year. With last year’s race engine, she found some success in later months by making the running and gets a great draw here to go to the lead again, the different race engine maybe against her now but you can never rule her out.

2 Marner Mb Stables Gonzalez Ru 124 —

Got into last year’s BC with a last gasp qualification win in the Rodeo Drive where she gamed the race engine as it was and made all for a fairly easy two length win. It didn’t work out quite as well on BC day, but she still ran with plenty of merit from a stalk position ending up a tenth on a rain affected track which she hated. Her best is good enough, her worst a long way off the best so she would have to be right up to her best to have any chance in this very hot race. The draw is perfect, and her trainer has had time to work the kinks out of the new engine so she would have to be a contender but not a sure thing in my books.

3 Common Misconception Nakamura Stables Ruiz Jo 124 —

For a mare that won the BC Juvenile Turf back in 2020 she has been flying a little under the radar since with the BEL Oaks and Beverley D in 2021 being her last grade one starts. She has picked up a couple of grade three’s and run well at just under the top grade but there certainly isn’t the sort of record you may expect from a BC winner. It is interesting that the trainer has chosen now to go for a big prize as she comes into her fifth year as they know that top younger horses can have a flat year as four-year-olds. It’s a bit of an acid test today and on last year’s form she has a bit to find but going back to her early days you have to give her a shot.

4 Made The Choice High First Flight Stable Geroux F 124 —

Mb Stables must be smiling happily as most of the big names in this race have been given wide draws whilst his runner is surrounded by less accomplished horses and whilst this one is another that hasn’t got the instant recognition of some you have to gve her credit for a very decent career so far. As a seven-year-old she has won a highly respectable $740.000 and carries fitness into this race which may be an important factor. I am not sure she has shown enough to be a win contender here, but I wouldn’t write off the chance that she may cash a smaller cheque.

5 Demanding Commander Hippyheart Bocachica A 124 —

One of the few fillies in this race she is at a slight disadvantage with equal weights as she had until recently been enjoying a weight pull on all these runners. You can’t knock her record though and there is one condition which would almost make her favorite for this race and that is a wet track. Three from three in the wet, it is hard to forget her slaughter of the FL Oaks field on a yielding track and if the rains come to this race, she may be at very nice odds for a shock win.

6 Stellar Agent Night Rider Stables Castellano J J 124 —

A somewhat under rated mare considering she is a grade one winner but is very similar to Marner in the respect that she made the BC field pretty late and disappointed after a grade one win in The Taylor gave her the gate. Drawn perfectly that day she was an absolute no show ending up a long way back in 13th which was strange after four very consistent efforts prior to the BC start. At her best she is a contender here, but you would have to say this is an above average field and she would have to bring her A game and then some.

7 Shining Moments RNP Stables Rodriguez A R 124 —

This field looks just good if you look at the inside drawn half of the field but when you look at the outside half it becomes a stellar race matched only by the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. A running on fifth in this race last year she is a nine-race winner of nearly $1,700.000 and six stakes races over a busy but very competitive career. As a five-year-old she is much better placed this year to run her best race than she was as a four-year-old, so I expect at least a fifth-place finish here, and it wouldn’t take much luck to get her into the top four.

8 Versailles D J C Racing Stables Lezcano J 124 —

A bit of an enigma she had always promised more than she had delivered but that all changed in June last year when she finally broke though for a grade one win in The Just A Game. Two more grade ones were to fall to her last year, the Beverley D and The First Lady but after that rich vein of form she switched back to her old self with a poor run in the BC and then in the Matriarch. to finish off the year. So which Versailles will turn up today? As a triple grade one winner her best is obviously good enough and without the starts problem, she had in her last two races under the new engine i would say she could just upset a few reputations again today.

9 La Terrifiant Smokey Stover Corrales G 124 —

Who wouldn’t want this amazing eight year old to win this race and take her earnings to the 9K mark have a chance, in possibly her last year at the top, to break the elusive 10K. Beaten in last year’s BC Fillies and mares turf by the great Perfect Class she does have a few things in her favor this time, one being they are on level weights and the second being she is favored a little by the draws this time. Is it enough to pull back the two lengths? Well wouldn’t it be great of she could, but this mare owes us nothing and as long as she runs well and comes back sound i don’t think anyone would be disappointed,

10 Perfect Class Sccj Stables Zayas E J 124 —

A brilliantly named filly with an amazing record of ten wins from 13 races she is closing in on the immortal tag and a win here would cement her as one of the best females the game has ever seen. If it wasn’t for two goes on the dirt, she could well be unbeaten in her last nine races but instead she sits on six wins in a row including of course that huge win in the BC last year. It is hard to see her being beaten if she is anywhere near her best, but she has to overcome the disadvantage that four-year-olds can have at this time of year and a less than perfect draw and this is a good enough field that if there are chinks in her armor today, they could exploit it.

11 Fangs Of The Storm Arindel Franco M 124 —

Beat La Terrifiant in the Matriarch at the end of last year so it could well be considered that she is the bigger danger to Perfect Class. A very consistent mare, she hasn’t won as many races as maybe she should have but always runs well, including being fourth in this race last year. Like some of the other five-year-olds she will enjoy being a five-year-old with the associated advantages over her younger rivals and the improvement that can bring, so whilst she looks a certain for top four, she could be considered the biggest danger to the super filly.

12 Always Condottieri Maletto Gonzalez El 124 —

Last and by no means least comes this under rated mare who is very close to being up there with the very best of her sex. Just good as a three-year-old she was hugely improved as a four-year-old winning the grade one Wiley and running a creditable fifth in the BC Fillies and Mares. Likely to go on or near the pace she is going to be caught wide on this new engine, but the turns don’t disadvantage the outside runners like they used to, and she should at least get a clear run.

SUMMARY

It is hard to go past Perfect Class who was amazing last year and, on her works, at least looks like very little has changed as she turned three into four. There are a few that could challenge her including Fangs Of The Storm, the great La Terrifiant, Versailles, Shining Moment and Marner.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES