Pegasus World Cup Preview, Fri., Jan 24

Tomorrow at Gulfstream is the $3 mil. Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, run at 1 1/8 mi. on the dirt for four-year-olds and up. The race features a number of G1 winners, including Lousiana Derby and Pennysylvania Derby winner, #2 Saudi Crown, BC Classic winner, #4, White Abarrio, Santa Anita Derby Winner, #6 Stronghold, Kentucky Derby winner, #9 Mystik Dan, and Breeders Futurity and Cigar Mile winner, #11 Locked. The program has #2 Saudi Crown at 5-2 on the M/L as its first selection with a total win probability of 17.06%, translating to theoretical odds of 9-2. The horse projects third in SPD with a win estimate of 19.0% while having the highest win percentage of 22.3%. Second is #4 White Abarrio at 3-1 on the M/L with a total win probability of 16.59%, converting to theoretical odds of 5-1. White Abarrio projects first in LP with a win estimate of 48.0% (about 1-1 strength). Third is #1 Mixto at 10-1 on the M/L with a total win probability of 15.11%. That translates to theoretical odds of 5-1. Mixto projects first in E1 and E2 with win estimates of 51.3% and 50.7% as well as has the highest COMP value at 39.3% while the horse’s risk is reasonably low with a Coefficient of Variance of 6.65%. Mixto’s win percentage is low, though, at 3.3%, adjusted for stakes. Fourth is the M/L favorite, #11 Locked at 5-2, who has a total win probability of 13.75%, converting to theoretical odds of 6-1. Locked projects first in SPD with a win estimate of 29.7% (5-2 strength) while having low risk with a Coefficient of Variance of 5.71%. In the final analysis, this is a wide open race with no horse having theoretical odds lower than 9-2. Following the final speed projections, the race appears between #2 Saudi Crown (19% SPD), #6 Stronghold (23.7% SPD) and #11 Locked (29.7%), with Saudi Crown having the highest win percentage among them at 22.3%. Saudi Crown finished first in his last race in a $100K stakes race at 1/16 mi. at the Fair Grounds in late December. Stronghold is coming off a 2nd place finish in the Malibu Stakes at 7f at Santa Anita in late December while Locked won his last race in the Cigar Mile at 1 mi. at Aqueduct in late December. As Gulfstream is a speed favoring track, #2 may have a slight edge over these other two horses with E1 and E2 estimates of 4.7% and 17.6%. White Abbario certainly has a chance with his high LP projection of 48.0%, but his form is not top after he only came in second in his last race, a G3 race at 7f at Gulfstream, in December. The final selections are #2 Saudi Crown, #4 White Abbario, #1 Mixto and #11 Locked.

Race 7 at Oaklawn, Thurs., Jan 23

When it comes to winning with long shots, it’s often seen as an act of magic akin to pulling a rabbit out of a hat. One place with the Handicap Wizard to look for long shot prospects is in the LP projection, like in the 7th race at Oaklawn today, a $40K alw race at 6ft on the dirt for four-year-olds and up. The horse with the longest odds in this race was #3 Go West at 37-1, who had a total win probability of 7.83%, translating into odds of 12-1. However, the horse projected first in LP with a win estimate of 43.2% (about 7-5 strength), earning itself a FIT2 checkmark for its statistical superiority in that metric. In the race, this is exactly what happened with Go West turning on the afterburner down the stretch to come up for second at a big price, paying $27.40 for the place. Thanks to the Handicap Wizard’s projections, this user was able to see that late pace strength with the heavily discounted horse horse and take advantage of it.

Race 2 at Oaklawn, Sat., Jan. 18

The program had an excellent result in the 2nd at Oaklawn today, a $12.K claiming race at 6ft on the dirt for fillies and mares four-year-old and up, with its first selection of #11 Spite Lite at 7-1. The horse had a total win probability of 21.15%, translating to odds of 7-2. Spite Lite projected 2nd in final speed with a 26.7% win estimate (about 3-1 strength) while having a 28.7% COMP (5-2 strength), a 15.2% win percentage and relative low risk with a Coefficient of Variance of 6.1%. In the race, Spite Lite went last to first while weaving through traffic out of the far turn into the stretch. The horse paid $16.80 for the win.

Race 7 at Santa Anita, Fri., Jan. 17

There was another excellent result for the program in race 7 at Santa Anita today, a $20K OC at 1 mi. on the dirt for four-year-old fillies and mares, with the program having the exacta order correct with its first two selections of #7 Love Our Family at 5-1 and #4 Nothing is Forever at 2-1. Love Our Family made a three-wide move around the far turn to take the lead down the stretch before nearly being caught by a surging Nothing is Forever at the wire. The $2 exa. paid $53.80.