Warm Heart, a 4-year-old daughter of Galileo, was tabbed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 27.
The Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg-owned bay filly will break from post position 9 under jockey Ryan Moore in what is expected to be her final start before being retired.
Warm Heart will try to become the first female to win the 1 1/8-mile race since it was renamed from being the Gulfstream Park Turf in 2019.
Aidan O'Brien also seeks to become the first European trainer to capture the race since it was rebranded.
Bred by Coolmore and out of the Australian mare Sea Siren, Warm Heart has won five of 10 career starts. She finished a strong second to the brilliant Inspiral in the Breeder's Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Santa Anita Park Nov. 4, then ran third in the Hong Kong Vase (G1) Dec. 10.
"She's covered a lot of miles," said Chris Armstrong, racing secretary for the Ireland-based O'Brien. "She's a very tough filly. She's been on the go since early last season, and she's come through the ranks. Warm Heart has done very well for us.
"She obviously had a good run at the Breeders' Cup and then again in Hong Kong. She's been training well since, and after Hong Kong, Aidan thought this would be the perfect spot for her, so it's all systems go."
West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing's Integration, a 4-year-old son of Quality Road , will start from post position 3 under Tyler Gaffalione as the second choice at 3-1.
The lightly raced Integration, bred by Larkin Armstrong, has won all three career starts, including the Virginia Derby (G3T) at Colonial Downs Sept. 9 and the Hill Prince Stakes (G2T) at Aqueduct Racetrack Nov. 18, when he made the lead heading into the upper stretch before powering home.
"We showed in New York he's got enough speed if we want to use it to lay wherever we want to lay," trainer Shug McGaughey said. "So, we'll just have to kind of leave that up to Tyler.
'But I'd rather be on the inside there with the kind of configurations of the turf course than be on the outside and something happens and you had to use him a little bit more, you got hung out the whole way."
Atone, a 7-year-old Into Mischief gelding who won the race last year, drew the inside post position with jockey Oisin Murphy on Sunday. Trainer Mike Maker will be aiming for a third Pegasus World Cup Turf win. He also won in 2020 with Zulu Alpha.
"This race was always in the back of our mind," said Nolan Ramsey, assistant to Maker. "This time of year, long-distance turf races are few and far between, especially one with this kind of purse, so that always makes you think about it. His form wasn't quite what it was last year, so he really needed to tell us that he was ready to tackle this kind of race."
Owned by Three Diamonds Farm and bred by Godolphin, Atone has not won in six races since his Pegasus victory. His best finish in that time was a third in his last race, a $62,500 optional claiming one-mile turf race at Gulfstream Park Dec. 2.
"I wasn't completely disappointed with his prep in the allowance. I don't think it was necessarily the ideal spot, and the way the race unfolded really wasn't to his advantage," Ramsey said. "But just the way he came out of the race and being able to have that little bit of extra time from the allowance coming into this race, he showed us he's ready."
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who has won four of the last five Pegasus World Cup Turf races, will be aboard 15-1 I'm Very Busy from post 4. The Team Hanley, Richard Schermerhorn, and Paul Braverman-owned 4-year-old son of Cloud Computing is coming off a second-place finish in the Hill Prince, in which he finished five lengths behind Integration.
The remaining Pegasus Word Cup Turf field includes 20-1 Jerry the Nipper in post 2, 15-1 Webslinger in post 5, 12-1 Kingmax in post 6, 12-1 Adhamo in post 7, 8-1 Master Piece in post 8, 15-1 Shirl's Speight in post 10, 10-1 Main Event in post 11, and 15-1 Catnip in post position 12.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, January 27, 2024, Race 12Entries: 1/ST BET Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Atone (KY) Oisin Murphy 123 Michael J. Maker 20/1 2 2Jerry the Nipper (NY) Jose L. Ortiz 123 Todd A. Pletcher 20/1 3 3Integration (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Claude R. McGaughey III 3/1 4 4I'm Very Busy (PA) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 Chad C. Brown 15/1 5 5Webslinger (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 123 Mark E. Casse 15/1 6 6Kingmax (IRE) David Egan 123 Jorge Delgado 12/1 7 7Adhamo (IRE) Flavien Prat 123 Chad C. Brown 12/1 8 8Master Piece (CHI) Jose Lezcano 123 Sydney Dutrow 8/1 9 9Warm Heart (IRE) Ryan L. Moore 118 Aidan P. O'Brien 9/5 10 10Shirl's Speight (KY) Luis Saez 123 Roger L. Attfield 15/1 11 11Main Event (KY) Javier Castellano 123 George Weaver 10/1 12 12Catnip (KY) Lanfranco Dettori 123 Michael Stidham 15/1 13 13Grand Sonata (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Todd A. Pletcher 20/1 14 14Anglophile (KY) John R. Velazquez 123 Brian A. Lynch 30/1
