Spun to Run, the winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, has developed a skin disease and has been scratched from the $3 million Pegasus World Cup, which is set to run on Saturday at Gulfstream Park (4:30-6 p.m. ET on NBC, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports App).
“I’m not happy with the skin disease,” trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero said. “It happened within the last two weeks. He broke out in hives. It was on his stomach, back, all over his legs. He means so much to me I’m almost crying.”
The decision was made the day after the 4-year-old son of Hard Spun drew the No. 9 post position in the Pegasus World Cup with 7-2 odds. He was considered one of the biggest competitors for morning line favorite Omaha Beach, since Spun to Run’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile was Omaha Beach’s only loss in five races since breaking his maiden. Javier Castellano was set to ride.
Spun to Run hasn’t raced in over a month. His last time out, he finished second to Maximum Security in the G1 Cigar Mile in December. He has five wins in 12 starts, including the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3) for a total of $1.1 million in career earnings.
With Spun to Run’s scratch, Omaha Beach becomes the even money favorite, and four other horses saw odds changes as well. Below are updated post positions and odds for Saturday’s Pegasus World Cup.
$3 million Pegasus World Cup post positions and odds as of Jan. 23:
- True Timber (15-1)
- Tax (8-1)
- Diamond Oops (15-1)
- Seeking the Soul (30-1)
- Omaha Beach (1-1)
- Higher Power (6-1)
- War Story (30-1)
- Mr Freeze (20-1)
- Spun to Run -- SCRATCHED
- Mucho Gusto (9-2)
- Tenfold (30-1)
- Bodexpress (30-1)
The Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series is a series of two invite-only Grade 1 races held annually at Gulfstream Park since 2017 (originally only offering a dirt race before adding the turf division last year). The $3 million Pegasus World Cup runs 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf runs 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Both races are for horses aged 4 years and older and are invitation-only.
This year, the Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream Park and heads the Pegasus World Cup, announced that both races will be run entirely medication free, as part of an industry-wide push for more safety and transparency in horse racing.
Additionally, all entry fees will be waived as purses drop. Entry fees for the Pegasus have peaked as high as $1 million in past years. The Pegasus World Cup’s purse was dropped from $9 million in 2019 to $3 million this year, and the Pegasus World Cup Turf also saw a $6 million purse decrease from $7 million to $1 million. The Stronach Group also announced that 2 percent of the purses will be donated to caring for retired Thoroughbreds ready to be retrained and rehomed.
Watch the Pegasus World Cup on NBC, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app on Saturday, January 25 from 4:30 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET.