Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1)
This was the 4th time that Skippylongstocking had run in the Pegasus World Cup. He finished 7th behind Art Collector in 2023, last of 12 behind National Treasure in 2024 and 3rd behind White Abarrio in 2025. Maybe a case could have been made that he produced an improved performance 12 months ago, but it would have been a relatively weak case and he certainly wasn’t the easiest winner of a Grade 1 to find before the race on Saturday. To be fair to the son of Exaggerator, he has won 13 races, operating at a 36% strike rate through his 36 race career with relative consistency, but this was a career best result and by some distance. If we draw a form line through White Abarrio, then it could be argued that this was a stronger result than 12 months ago, especially with the distance that the first pair put between themselves and the rest of the field, but is that an accurate assessment?
The pre-race build up had revolved around the unbeaten Disco Time who was sent off a well backed favourite after drawing stall 1. He was disappointing, eventually finishing almost 2s behind the winner in 8th. I think stall 1 actually proved to be his undoing. He was lit up when the gates opened and simply too keen in Flavien Prat’s hands as he clocked 22.29s for the opening quarter of a mile. Prat did his best to hold him in the back straight, but competition for the lead drove him forwards and his stride frequency, which ranked highest for the 3 furlongs around the home turn, was too fierce and left him with very little left in the tank on the run-in. He is better than this and would probably benefit from a smaller field and a lead to track. He didn’t run his race, but that shouldn’t detract from the performances of the older horses, who each have proven form at the track and whose overall times support the theory that this race compares well with previous runnings of the Pegasus.
I think the first point to make is that White Abarrio has at least returned to somewhere close to his best form. Since winning this race 12 months ago he has struggled to reach his peak and after disappointing runs in the Whitney Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the 146 day break appeared to have freshened him up. Despite a wide draw in stall 11, he found plenty for Irad Ortiz Jr, making good headway around the field at the end of the back straight and through the turn. Despite racing 4 wide around the bend, he hit the front with 2 furlongs to run and looked to be the most likely winner at that point. Although the only time that he ran the fastest individual furlong was when he clocked 11.93s for the 6th, his split times ranked in the top 3 for each of the final 6 furlongs, despite the fact that he covered approximately 11.3m more ground than the early leaders. A finishing time of 1:48.77 was just 0.72s slower than the 1:48.05 that he recorded when winning the race last year and having had a much tougher draw and race passage to overcome, I think we can say that he ran to an almost identical rating when trying to defend his crown. In fact his final time on Saturday would have been enough to win 4 of the previous 9 runnings of this race. His top speed figure of 40.75 mph was virtually identical to the 40.78 mph that he recorded in 2025 and he was almost a second ahead of Full Serrano in 3rd (0.92s or 3.25 lengths) at the line. Irad Ortiz Jr did everything right. He got his mount forward when the stalls opened and he reacted quickly in the back straight when it became clear that Flavien Prat was attempting to steady the pace in front. Having moved alongside the leader at the 2 furlong pole, he must have thought that he had won the race for the 2nd year in a row, but Tyler Gaffalione had him covered.
This was a truly superb piece of race riding from Tyler Gaffalione. Whether it was deliberate or whether his mount simply wasn’t capable of matching the early pace, only he can tell us, but having allowed the battle for the lead to develop in front of him, he delivered Skippylongstocking at the perfect moment. A top speed figure of 39.84 mph ranked 10th of the 12 runners, but it was enough to keep the 7-year-old within reach of the leaders and the data for the closing 3 furlongs would suggest that there was no fluke about this performance. Skippylongstocking closed with splits of 12.28, 12.69 and 12.89s, each of which were the fastest furlongs in the contest. That coincided with the fact that he recorded the longest average stride length for each of the final 3 furlongs too (7.6, 7.46 and 7.42m). Having White Abarrio as a target to aim at probably helped, but once into the straight, Skippylongstocking had the stamina to stretch out and run down the reigning champion with relative ease. A late speed figure of 34.94 mph was a clear best (next best Lightning Tones 34.21 mph) and he took over a second out of the runner-up over the final 3 furlongs. I don’t think we can argue that he has improved at the age of 7. The fact that he had a break of 120 days after a below par run in the Charles Town Classic in August may have helped. He also had race fitness on his side. He won the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes in December and that may well have given him an edge of White Abarrio, especially in the closing stages. When there is a shock result in a Grade 1 it is sometimes easier to write it off as a fluke result and move on. I don’t think this was necessarily a fluke.
Skippylongstocking has a very good record at Gulfstream Park and he finished 3rd in this race 12 months ago, where he recorded a faster final furlong split and run-out speed than the winner. Instead, I think it is best to describe this as a perfect set of circumstances for Saffie Joseph’s charge. An early battle for the lead to soften up some of the principle challengers, a difficult passage for the runner-up, a pace and target to aim at and a clean run through the field around the turn. Add in a well judged ride from Tyler Gaffalione and it leads to a Grade 1 success. Will he repeat this performance? That’s a much more difficult question to answer. Everything went right on Saturday evening and I don’t think it is guaranteed to do so in the future.
