By Alan Carasso
A horse that frequently fires a big shot when fresh up, Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro) was steered off heels and widest in upper stretch and powered home down the center of the course to take out Saturday's $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The New York-bred, off at odds touching 8-1, broke fairly and took up a spot in the third flight of horses, sat a centerfield trip as the rail-drawn GI Hollywood Derby hero Formidable Man (City of Light) cut out the running from GI Woodbine Mile upsetter Win For the Money (Mohaymen), and they went quick early through fractions of :22.74 and :46.20. Integration (Quality Road), a troubled fifth as the 6-5 chalk in this event last year, tracked the top two from a three-deep perch passing halfway.
Bottled up from mid-division down the back as positions remained unchanged up front, Spirit of St Louis raced in traffic and on hold on the back of 13-2 chance Mi Hermano Remon (Creative Cause) rounding the second turn and was still short of running room as they neared the stretch. Tyler Gaffalione was able to extricate his mount shortly after entering the lane and steered Spirit of St Louis to the outside of Mi Hermano Remon and the well-fancied Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), with a clear shot if good enough. Integration in the meantime made the lead beneath Frankie Dettori and carried the field deep into the final furlong, but Spirit of St Louis did his best Charles Lindbergh impression, navigating his way to the front in the dying strides. Chasing the Crown (Skipshot) was a slashing third to spice up the triple at 64-1, while Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), favored at 5-2, sat a rail-skimming trip, but could make no stretch impact and finshed ninth.
It was a third win in the various iterations of the race for trainer Chad Brown (Almanaar {GB}, Bricks and Mortar) and a third in the last 12 runnings for Medaglia d'Oro, whose 2014 winner Lochte was also out of a mare by the late Lemon Drop Kid. The stallion's versatile son Mshawish took the 2015 renewal.
“I loved where he was, but the fact that he found himself between horses down the backside, I'd rather either be on the rail or two deep,” Brown said. “Right in between two horses can get a little tight at times, so I was mildly concerned. I loved where he was in relation to the leader and the pace, but I didn't know how he was going to track from there.
“One of the many great moves in the race was Tyler on the turn when he sort of let a couple other horses go first and cleared his own path rather than try to go with him. He would have got jammed up if he went with them.”
A smashing debut winner in January 2023 for this trainer and owner Peter Brant , Spirit of St Louis was second in allowance company that April before changing hands for $280,000 at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale. Since then, the Broman-bred had won eight times, five in state-bred restricted stakes, and he was last seen successfully defending his title in the Oct. 27 Mohawk Stakes at Aqueduct. His lone off-the-board finish of his career came when fifth to stablemate Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and future GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero More Than Looks (More Than Ready) in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile two back.
His return to top-level company went considerably better Saturday.
“I'm just fortunate the horse got in the race because without a lot of graded stuff next to him and no graded wins, he could have easily gotten excluded,” said Brown. “I'm happy he was in the race and he fired today.”
Pedigree Notes:
Spirit of St Louis is the 97th worldwide group/graded winner for Medaglia d'Oro and his 28th runner to succeed at the highest level globally. He is the 17th GI/G1SW out of a mare by the recently departed Lemon Drop Kid, joining his full-sister, shock Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold.
In addition to Bar of Gold, herself the dam of GSW Coinage (Tapit), the Broman-owned and -bred Khancord Kid–who won this track's GIII Herecomesthebride Stakes in 2010 for John Kimmel–is the dam of four other winners. The mare's youngest produce include the 3-year-old filly Starship Pegasus (Uncle Mo), a $200,000 OBS March breezer; and a 2-year-old full-brother to Spirit of St Louis and Bar of Gold.
#8 SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS ($17.80) got room late and got up just in time under a perfectly timed ride by @Tyler_Gaff to win the $1,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at @GulfstreamPark. The son of Medaglia d'Oro (@DarleyAmerica) is trained by Chad Brown. pic.twitter.com/f5mA6LL3Gd
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 25, 2025
Saturday, Gulfstream
PEGASUS WORLD CUP TURF INVITATIONAL S. PRESENTED BY QATAR RACING-GI, $983,400, Gulfstream, 1-25, 4yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:44.50, fm.
1–SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS, 123, g, 6, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Khancord Kid (GSW, $167,343),
by Lemon Drop Kid
2nd Dam: Confidently, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Key Phrase, by Flying Paster
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($300,000 Ylg
'20 KEESEP; $280,000 4yo '23 KEEAPR). O-Madaket Stables
LLC, Michael Dubb and Richard Schermerhorn; B-Chester &
Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Tyler Gaffalione.
$498,000. Lifetime Record: 14-10-3-0, $1,267,150. *1/2 to
Land Mine (Mineshaft), SP, $158,342; Full to Bar of Gold,
GISW, $1,551,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Integration, 123, h, 5, Quality Road–Harmonize, by Scat
Daddy. ($700,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG). O-West Point
Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing LLC, Pine Racing Stables,
William T. Freeman, Michael Valdes and John A. Ballantyne;
B-Larkin Armstrong (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $166,000.
3–Chasing the Crown, 123, h, 6, Skipshot–La Belle Marquet,
by Marquetry. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($170,000 RNA Ylg '20
FTKSEL; $285,000 2yo '21 FTFMAR). O-Paradise Farms Corp.,
David Staudacher and Angelo Carlesimo; B-Mikhail Yanakov
(KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $83,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 7.90, 3.80, 64.70.
Also Ran: Mi Hermano Ramon, Fort Washington, Major Dude, Win for the Money, Grand Sonata, Nations Pride (Ire), Balnikhov (Ire), Battle of Normandy, Formidable Man. Scratched: Paros, Siege of Boston.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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