Regional Eclipse angles and Pegasus romp: The week in social media

by Chelsea Lowman | Jan 31, 2020 | Breaking, Business, Regionwide, Top Stories

Sharing won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Photo by Scott Serio/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders’ Cup/CSM.

The top Midlantic-Bred of 2019 was announced, a filly by a Pennsylvania-sire was honored at the Eclipse Awards, and the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) went to Mucho Gusto.

Here is the 411 on what racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region have been buzzing about on social media over the past week:

Tasty Pegasus win for Mucho Gusto

The $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1), contested last Saturday, went to the Bob Baffert trainee Mucho Gusto.

Mucho Gusto and jockey Irad Ortiz strode away from the competition by 4 ½ lengths in 1:48.85 for the distance of 1 1/8 miles on the main track. It was the first time that the Eclipse Award winning jockey paired up with the colt, and the team proved to be a perfect match.

Owned by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, Mucho Gusto holds a record of six wins from eleven starts and career earnings of $2,441,800. The Mucho Macho Man colt was a $625,000 purchase back in 2018 when he went through the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium, MD.

With his convincing score in the Pegasus World Cup, Mucho Gusto has been invited to the inaugural running of the $20 million Saudi Cup at King Abdul Aziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Baffert plans on sending both Mucho Gusto and multiple graded stakes winner McKinzie to the event, which takes place February 29.

Idiomatic

The annual Eclipse Awards were presented last Thursday at Gulfstream Park, giving Pennsylvania breeders something to celebrate, as British Idiom earned Champion Two-Year-Old Filly honors.

By Pennsylvania-based stallion Flashback, British Idiom compiled a perfect record of three wins from three starts in 2019. The chestnut filly captured the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes in October at Keeneland before highlighting her season with a gritty score in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) one month later. At the end of her 2019 season, British Idiom had collected earnings of $1,381,250.

Owned by Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group (Stuart Grant), Madaket Stables LLC, & Bethlehem Stables LLC, British Idiom is trained by Brad Cox. Bred by Hargus and Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm LLC, British Idiom was a $40,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale back in 2018.

Flashback currently stands at Diamond B Farm in Mohrsville, PA for $3,500, which is due when the foal stands and nurses.

Sharing named Top Midlantic-bred

The Top Midlantic-Bred of 2019 was recently named, with the honor going to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner, Sharing.

Sharing was unanimously voted as best horse bred in the region to race in 2019 in the final Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred/The Racing Biz Top Midlantic-bred Poll of the year. The Maryland-bred daughter of Speightstown kicked off her two-year-old season of racing on July 21 last season, finishing a game third in a maiden special weight at Saratoga. Her maiden race yielded a result that has not been duplicated, as Sharing has not lost a race since her third place finish that day.

After breaking her maiden at second asking, Sharing took a step up in class by entering the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park. The filly emerged untouched, giving her connections the confidence to enter her in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). Once again, the filly was triumphant, gliding away from a large field of foes by 1 ¼ lengths, and boosting her earnings to a total of $730,300. Sharing stood as the only Midlantic-bred to score in a Breeders’ Cup event this year.

Bred by Sagamore Farm and owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stables, Sharing is conditioned by trainer Graham Motion, who also conditioned Sharing’s dam, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account.

#BreedersCup Juvenile Fillies Turf Champion Sharing was named Top Midlantic-bred of 2019! ?? @GrahamMotion
Read: https://t.co/1lhGd7VD9m via @TheRacingBiz
?@EclipseSports pic.twitter.com/9pSRdaKJrM
— Breeders’ Cup (@BreedersCup) January 26, 2020