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| Sumita Pawar |
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Newgrange, who emerged as the victor in the Gr.2 San Antonio Stakes held at Santa Anita on December 26th, will not be competing in the Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park this Saturday. Instead, the decision has been made to enter the horse in the Gr.2 San Pasqual Stakes, also taking place at Santa Anita on the same day.
The reason behind this decision is to evaluate Newgrange's performance as he may be sent to either Saudi Arabia or Dubai in the coming months, if the four-time stakes champion performs well on Saturday.
“We thought we wanted to take a swing overseas in the Saudi Cup or Dubai World Cup,” trainer Phil D’Amato said on Sunday. “We thought if we kept him here and we got a good performance we wouldn’t have to ship back to Florida to California” and ship again.
“We can have him fully prepared to take a big swing.”
According to D'Amato, Newgrange will be participating in the US$12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 30 instead of the US$20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia on 24th Feb.
Newgrange, owned by David Bernsen, the Little Red Feather Racing partnership, and Rockingham Ranch, has won six out of twelve starts and earned US$887,634. In the San Antonio Stakes, a 1 1/16 mile race, Newgrange led from the front and won by 2 1/4 lengths.
Although Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Newgrange in the San Antonio, he will be replaced by Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza, as announced by D'Amato. Espinoza will be riding Newgrange for the first time.
Other contenders for the San Pasqual include Mr Fisk, who won the Gr.3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar in his last start on November 26th, Newgate, a 2023 graded stakes winner who finished second in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 6th in his first start in 11 months. Mixto, who came second in the San Antonio; and Subsanador, a multiple Group One winner in Argentina in 2023 who was a disappointing fourth in the San Antonio as the 6-5 favorite.