2023 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Betting Odds and Contenders Preview
The newest race in Gulfstream’s star-studded Pegasus races, the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, will be run Saturday, January 28 at Gulfstream. The $500,000 race drew a field of eleven, though three early scratches have made it a field of eight. Even so, with leading turf mares like Shantisara, Dalika, and Queen Goddess, it will be an excellent race and a strong betting affair.
The favorite is Shantisara, who comes in for perennially leading turf trainer Chad Brown. She hopes to get her career back on track in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, the race her stablemate Regal Glory used as a springboard to stardom in 2022. Can she do it? Keep reading to find out, and to see how to bet the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf online!
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf 2023 Information
Race Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Track: Gulfstream Park
Post Time: 4:06 p.m. Eastern
Distance: 1 1/16 miles on the turf
Age/Sex: Four-year-olds and up, fillies and mares
Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, NBC, Peacock
Where to Bet: TVG.com and FanDuel Racing
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Odds
These are the entrants for the 2023 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Note that Mona Stella, Bay Storm, and Perseverencia have all been announced as early scratches for the race.
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artie's Princess | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | Jose Ortiz | 20-1 |
| 2 | Dalika | Al Stall, Jr. | Brian Hernandez, Jr. | 5-2 |
| 3 | Wakanaka | Bill Mott | Joel Rosario | 5-1 |
| 4 | Sweet Enough | Roger Attfield | Junior Alvarado | 20-1 |
| 5 | Mona Stella | Patrick Biancone | Mike Smith | SCR |
| 6 | Queen Goddess | Michael McCarthy | Luis Saez | 9-2 |
| 7 | Lady Rockstar | Brendan Walsh | Tyler Gaffalione | 6-1 |
| 8 | Justify My Love | Paulo Lobo | Javier Castellano | 30-1 |
| 9 | Shantisara | Chad Brown | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | 9-5 |
| 10 | Bay Storm | Jonathan Thomas | Frankie Dettori | SCR |
| 11 | Perseverancia | Cherie DeVaux | Julien Leparoux | SCR |
These are the morning-line odds, but odds will fluctuate all the way until post time. To make the smartest bets, remember horse racing is a game of information. So, tune into FanDuel TV to get the latest news about the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf entrants and see how the odds move. Then, you will be ready to make the best bet at post time!
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Prep Results
The eight horses expected to start in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf come from seven different races. The only last-out race that includes more than one entrant is the Fall Harvest, a turf mile on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Keeneland. Wakanaka won that race, while Shantisara ran fifth of six as the even-money favorite.
Four others come from graded stakes races. Dalika won the Cardinal (G3) at Churchill in her last start, and Queen Goddess won the Robert J. Frankel (G3) at Santa Anita, making them the only last-out graded winners in this race. Lady Rockstar was most recently second in the Sewanee River (G3), going a mile over the Gulfstream green, while Artie’s Princess has freshened since a sixth-place tilt in the Bessarabian (G2), a sprint over the Woodbine Tapeta.
Two others in the field last appeared in allowance company. Justify My Love won a second-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill grass on Nov. 19, while Sweet Enough won a conditioned allowance on Dec. 29 over the same course and distance as she’ll cover in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf.
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Contenders
Artie’s Princess: She won the Presque Isle Masters (G2) two starts back, but that was a sprint race. She is also winless in her only turf start, which also came at one turn. Trainer Saffie Joseph is excellent at Gulfstream, but this is a mighty hard place to try two turns on the grass for the first time, and from the rail this stretch-out sprinter’s biggest impact may be making sure the other speed horses go fast early.
Dalika: She had her best year yet at age six, winning the Beverly D (G1) and two other graded races last year. She makes her career finale in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. She is well proven at 1 1/16 miles, in the exacta in five of ten tries. However, with speedy stretch-out sprinter Artie’s Princess inside of her and Queen Goddess outside, she will not have an easy time and the price will be short.
Wakanaka: She rallied late for the score in the Fall Harvest last out, and should get a nice, sharp pace in front of her this time as well. That isn’t a dealbreaker, however; she won the Dance Smartly (G2) last year while closer to a slower pace over this distance at Woodbine. Her versatility should suit her nicely, and her second-place finish in the Honey Fox (G3) last year proved she can handle Gulfstream’s grass, as well.
Sweet Enough: She needed a drop to allowance company to nab her first victory in three North American starts. She was well beaten in the Bessarabian in her only graded try since leaving Europe, though that was a Tapeta sprint and she is far better proven on the lawn. This is a class rise, but her ability to handle the local footing and her tactical running style mean she has a chance to run on in the lane for a piece of the action at a price.
Mona Stella: She has been scratched from the field.
Queen Goddess:She only raced four times last year, but her three on the lawn in 2022 were all very good. Perhaps the 1 ½ miles of the Santa Barbara (G3), the only turf start she lost last year, proved too long. The question is how well she will cut back to 1 1/16 miles, since all her starts on turf last year were longer. But, she has proven she can stalk the pace and win against good horses, a positive given how much speed there is and that this is a shorter distance. In short, if Michael McCarthy ships a horse cross-country, he usually has a very good reason.
Lady Rockstar: This daughter of Frankel started her career in England, and then made good account in four American starts last year. Though both her wins came in allowance company, she tuned up for this race with a close second-place finish in the Suwanee River. Trainer Brendan Walksh often moves horses forward second off the layoff, and the extra distance should suit her well. Expect her to find a good spot midpack and make a run into the contested pace.
Justify My Love: A Grade 2 winner in Argentina, she needed three starts in the United States before finding her winning form again. But, she got there on Nov. 19 in a second-level allowance at Churchill over the same distance as the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. She sat a bit closer to the pace that day than she had in her previous two starts, something that benefitted her. The questions are whether she will handle the class rise and handle the footing at Gulfstream, so demand a price. But, a piece of exotics would not be a shock.
Shantisara: The likely favorite has a huge chance on her best, but the question is whether she can find her best at a huge price. She was heavily backed last out in the Fall Harvest at Keeneland, a track where she is a Grade 1 winner already. But, she finished a flat fifth of six. A little more distance this time than last time is a positive, though a mile and a sixteenth is on the short side for her: she has finished second in both of her starts over that trip, and done better at nine furlongs and beyond. At a short price, she is suspect.
Bay Storm: She has been scratched from the field.
Perseverancia: She has been scratched from the race.
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Past Winners Past Performances
The Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf inherited its grade last year from the Marshua’s River, but got enough of a purse enhancement and a class enhancement that it makes sense to consider this race as its own entity. Its history will take shape in the next few years, but for now, it has only been run as the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf once. In 2022, Regal Glory came out of a victory in the Matriarch (G1), though she was not a West Coast-based horse: trained by Chad Brown, she had already made herself a presence in the graded ranks in New York and Kentucky, too.
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Card
The Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf, run as Saturday’s 11th race of 13, is one of seven graded races on the card. It is one of three rich races to bear the Pegasus name: the others are the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) on dirt and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1). Classy action runs all day, however, including the La Prevoyante (G3), Inside Information (G2), William L. McKnight (G3), and the Fred W. Hooper (G3). With top-notch horses running all day, Saturday is a perfect day to watch all day long on FanDuel TV, and place your bets with FanDuel and TVG!
Gulfstream Park
Gulfstream Park is the historic racetrack that hosts the Florida Derby each year. It is the only American racetrack that offers all three racing surfaces: conventional dirt, turf, and a synthetic Tapeta surface. The outer track is a dirt course measuring 1 1/8 miles around, complete with a chute that allows for classic one-turn dirt mile races. The next track inward is a one-mile and seventy-yard Tapeta track that opened in 2021. The inner course is a seven-furlong turf track.
Gulfstream Park has hosted many major races over the years, including the Breeders’ Cup in 1989, 1992, and 1999. In 2017, the race ran the rich Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf for the first time, which was at one time the world’s richest horse race. But the Florida Derby, run along the road to the Kentucky Derby, remains Gulfstream Park’s most established and famous race.
Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf FAQ
Q: When is the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf?
A: Saturday, January 28, 2023, at 4:06 p.m. EST.
Q: Where is the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf?
A: The race is run at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf?
A: Chad Brown is a strong presence with top turf fillies and mares, and he has won the only edition of this race to date with Regal Glory. Brown sends out Shantisara this year.
Q: Who is the best Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf jockey?
A: Jose Ortiz won the only previous edition of this race in 2022, with Regal Glory. He is named to ride Artie’s Princess for Saffie Joseph, Jr. this year.
Q: Who is the favorite for the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf?
A: Shantisara, for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., has been named the morning-line favorite. Though she disappointed last out, she has back class, including a win in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) in 2021 and a second in the Jenny Wiley (G1) in 2022.
