The Turf Program had an excellent result in the 10th race at Gulfstream today, the $500K Pegasus WC Fillies and Mares Invitational, with its first two selections of #10 Sacred Wish at 7-2 and #3 Be Your Best at 7-1. Those were the exacta horses with the order reversed. In the race, Be Your Best led all the way and was challenged late by Sacred Wish at the wire, who came in second. The $1 exa. paid $35.70.
White Abbario may be the sleeper horse in the Pegasus World Cup based on recent form because of how the horse placed second in a G3 race at 7f on Dec. 28 at Gulfstream. In spite of that disappointing performance, the Handicap Wizard still rates White Abbario as the second selection when he is only 1% behind Saudi Crown in terms of total win probability (17.22% versus 16.29%). But there are some things going for White Abbario, including strong works at Gulfstream this month (0:48 over 4f on Jan. Jan 16 and 0:47 over 4f on Jan. 9), a 75% lifetime win percentage at Gulfstream (6 wins in 8 starts, including the Florida Derby in 2022), a solid win percentage at 18.9% (4-1 strength in terms of money wins adjusted for stakes), and the highest LP projection in the field at 48.5% win estimate. The latter is particularly important for the distance of the race at 1 1/8 mi when no other horse come close to having the late pace strength. Even though White Abbario finished second in his last race, he still recorded a LP figure of 107. Therefore, White Abbario is primed for the longer distance and should be in better form in this race when this will be his third race after a layoff in the fall 2024. He also has a jockey advantage with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, who has won the Pegasus World Cup twice previously.
Pro-Handicap Analytics 