Dalika tries to knock out a winner in Pegasus F/M Turf

With the recent retirement of Queen Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G3T) last year regal glory Coach Chad Brown starts winning 1st grade Shantisara at her stable friend’s place. But she’ll have to catch Bal Mar Equine’s dalika firstly.

The hybrid German sensation, winner of 10 of 31 outings and earning over $1.4 million, will line up at the starting gate for the last time on January 28. Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf worth 500,000 dollars at Gulfstream Park. As in the majority of her races, Dalika, played by Brian Hernandez Jr. riders on Saturday, will try to speed up from flag down to finish in the mare and older mare 1/8 mile run. 7 year old daughter of Pastor (GER) won three of her last four races in the front runner position. Likely a pacesetter in the 11-horse Filly & Mare Turf, this will be Dalika’s first run on the Hallandale field, which has traditionally been for leading horses.

“There is no horse in America with more combat experience than her,” said her trainer, Albert Stall Jr. , too.”

Battle testing is right. Of Dalika’s two greatest wins from last year, at Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs and Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T), gray dominates by narrow margins after all-round slugs into the string. After finishing in sixth place nothing stood out Wakanaka in Fall Harvest Stakes on Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Championship card, Dalika ended her six-year-old campaign by a huge margin against fellow contenders Pegasus Filly & Mare. persistence in Churchill’s Cardinal Stock (G3T).

Racing to win the Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Robert LaPenta collaboration, Shantisara was a brave second to Regal Glory in last year’s Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) when she made her debut at age 4. While Shantisara has earned a solid position, she does her best to run on the pitch with little concessions. Although rain is forecast in the Hallandale area on Thursday, clear skies are expected Friday and Saturday ahead of the race.

Irad Ortiz Jr., the country’s top equestrian by earnings and won in 2022, appealed to Shantisara.

In a race dominated by foreign-bred dogs, another competitor from across the pond entered the Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf after beating the race favorites in the final victory. hers. Fall Harvest winner Wakanaka, a half-Irish girl owned by Team Valor International and Gary Barber, will compete in her second Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf after finishing sixth in last year’s edition. That race was her first on North American soil after moving to coach Bill Mott’s shed from Europe. Since that effort, she has continued to show remarkable progress, winning Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T) at Honeysuckle and placed in Just a Game Stakes (G1T), Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2T) and Honey Fox Stakes (G3T).

“When she first got here, she didn’t play well for two innings,” said Barry Irwin, chief executive officer of Team Valor. “But as she races and trains, she gets smarter and better. She has improved physically. She is so much better now than she was last year. She has a really good turn. She’s not a very fat person, but she does have a lot of power when it comes to turning it on.

A $975,000 acquisition in Keeneland’s November Breeding Sale this past fall, daughter of Keeneland. Power will be looking to continue her form in her 2023 campaign. Controlled by Joel Rosario, predicts Wakanaka will fly late.

Other direct candidates include West Coast shippers goddess 1st grade winner won in Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) December 31 at Santa Anita . Park last time back after seven months of layoffs and Brendan Walsh trained rock star lady most recently a runner-up game came Stolen vacation on December 31 Suwannee River Stakes (G3T)