Test Score, who finished his sophomore season near the head of the class in the 3-year-old grass division, aced his 4-year-old debut by outrunning stablemate One Stripe to win the $937,800 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park.
Their 1-2 finish meant trainer Graham Motion swept the top two positions with his two starters in the field of 12.
A three-time graded stakes winner last year as a 3-year-old, Test Score rebounded from a loss in the Hollywood Derby (G1T) in his final start of 2025 when traffic problems hampered his finish, and he settled for third, beaten a half-length. He had no such challenges Saturday in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus Turf, sitting a sweet trip in fourth for much of the race while saving ground around both turns as Cabo Spirit carved out the pace while clear on the lead through fractions of :23.71, :47.23, and 1:10.58.
Angled out by jockey Manny Franco entering the stretch, he found room—though so did a slew of others, including favored Program Trading, who shot through a huge gap on the rail. But Test Score outfinished all his rivals, taking over from Cabo Spirit in midstretch.
Striking the front, Test Score had enough to repel a wide stretch bid from Gavin Lerena-ridden One Stripe, formerly a champion miler in South Africa who is now in top form for Motion in the United States.
"When (Test Score) made the front early he kind of waited a little bit, but when he felt the competition again he gave me another gear," Franco said.
The winner prevailed by a neck, timed in 1:47.04 for the distance on firm turf.
"I mean, both horses ran super," Motion said. "Gavin gave One Stripe a great ride. He just couldn't quite get there. And Manny gave Test Score the perfect trip today."
Motion had high expectations for his two Pegasus Turf starters, "but I felt really good about running my horses all day, and none of them have won. So this was the icing on the cake."
For Hollywood Racing and Rikesh Sewgoolam's One Stripe, his Pegasus World Cup Turf runner-up finish was a sharp effort in defeat—on par with some of his top races in South Africa, such as when he won the prestigious 2025 King's Plate (G1) under Lerena.
Reflecting on the victory and One Stripe's second-place finish, Motion said, "It's a little bittersweet because these guys are such good sports. They've traveled from South Africa to watch this horse run, and he's a really good horse. You're going to hear a lot from him this year."
Almendares, a Southern California shipper for trainer Phil D'Amato, ran third, a length behind the runner-up. Astronomer ran fourth and favored Program Trading was fifth.
The Amerman Racing-owned winner, a 4-year-old homebred son of Lookin At Lucky out of the Kitten's Joy mare Joy of Learning, notched his second top-level stakes victory in the Pegasus Turf after winning the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) last summer in New York. Other victories in 2025 came in the Transylvania Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland in the spring and the Twilight Derby (G2T) in the fall at Santa Anita Park.
He is one of three winners from as many starters for his dam.
Test Score earned his largest payday Saturday in collecting a $516,000 winner's share of the purse. That advances his career earnings to $2,000,525, accomplished with a 5-3-3 record in 13 starts. He paid $17.20 to win.
Lookin At Lucky, the 2010 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner, previously stood at Ashford Stud in Kentucky before standing exclusively in Chile beginning in 2024.
Motion said Test Score would receive a well-earned break after a long campaign throughout much of his 3-year-old season and leading into the Pegasus, and expressed excitement for what may be seen from One Stripe this year. The 5-year-old appears to have fully acclimated to racing in North America, having taken an allowance optional claiming race by 5 1/4 lengths at Gulfstream Dec. 26 after being unplaced in two grade 1s in his first two starts upon export from South Africa. Those races all came at a mile, and he was strong at the finish of the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus Turf, going from ninth to second in the final 3 furlongs.
"I think the future is unlimited for him. I think the distance really helped him today," Motion said.
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