Pegasus Changes

[Bigadam119]

Purse reduced to $3M for dirt and $1M for turf. Also there will be now race day medication. Do horses still push of retirement for this race now or is it just another race?

[horsefan2019]

Entry fees are eliminated. So while the prize money is down, one of the biggest barriers to the race is gone.

[cj]

The purse is basically the same, they have eliminated the entry fees and re-distribution of such.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by cj

The purse is basically the same, they have eliminated the entry fees and re-distribution of such.

What he said.

[cutchemist42]

Kind of is the same thing still except the medication thing?

[cj]

Originally Posted by cutchemist42

Kind of is the same thing still except the medication thing?

No more entry fees like before so the winner doesn't stand to make near as much money.

The 2020 winner will get I assume 60%, so $1,800,000.

Previous winnings:

2019 City of Light $3,500,000
2018 Gun Runner $6,000,000
2017 Arrogate $6,000,000

[classhandicapper]

A steep entry fee doesn't make sense to me.

As an owner, if the entry fee is low, I'll take a shot in a field where I think my horse has at least some chance to pick up a piece of the purse even if there are several horses clearly better than him.

But if I'm putting up a steep amount of money and it's the same amount as a bunch of other owners that clearly have much better horses, it's kind of like taking 7-1 odds in a 8 horse field when your horse is going to be 20-1.

When you are entering horses, you should be assessing the long term earnings potential of your horse in this specific field vs other potential opportunities, including passing and giving him a rest.

That's the kind of thinking I encourage in my partnership, but it only acts as a partial offset to the primary partner that thinks every horse we have is 10 lengths faster than he actually is. lol

[Suff]

A tinge of buyers remorse and bait/switch feeling.

[pandy]

This makes a lot more sense.

[Jeff P]

Bloodhorse.com | By Bob Ehalt | Sunday Dec 16, 2019 4:56 PM
West Considers Saudi Cup for Maximum Security:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...ximum-security

Owner upset with decision to cut $6 million from Pegasus purse.

In response to The Stronach Group's Dec. 15 announcement to cut a combined $12 million from its purses for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T), owner Gary West said it is "very questionable" that his multiple grade 1-winning 3-year-old Maximum Security will run in the Jan. 25 dirt race at Gulfstream Park.

After the purse for the dirt race was cut by two-thirds from $9 million to $3 million, West said he is strongly considering altering his plans for his homebred's 2020 campaign. Before Maximum Security's victory in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1), West said he had little interest in shipping his horse overseas. But he is now considering the first running of the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 29 at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the colt.

"Cutting the purse to $3 million is an absolute game-changer. I wasn't thinking about the Saudi Cup, but why should I run for $3 million when I can run for $20 million four weeks later? That's a substantial change, and we don't know what we're going to do," West said.

I can see both sides of this.

If I really thought I had one of the best horses on the planet (and deep pockets) I think I'd be totally willing to put up $1M to prove it.

On the other hand, The Pegasus never really was a $12M race in the first place (because of the $1M entry fee.)

In any given year --

How many truly great horses are there?

And how many owners are willing to put up $1M to run against a truly great horse?

Thus, the reason for the format change.


-jp

.

[groupie doll]

Can't blame West for wanting to take his charge elsewhere, and he isn't the only one since Tax may also defect. I think the issue is the late notice, which is pretty late, I'll give him that.

[cj]

Originally Posted by groupie doll

Can't blame West for wanting to take his charge elsewhere, and he isn't the only one since Tax may also defect. I think the issue is the late notice, which is pretty late, I'll give him that.

I would assume the issue is money way more than the late notice. 20,000,000 is a LOT more than 3,000,000.

I hate these races over in the those wretched places, but I'm not going to knock somebody for wanting to take a shot at that kind of money.

[cj]

Originally Posted by cj

No more entry fees like before so the winner doesn't stand to make near as much money.

The 2020 winner will get I assume 60%, so $1,800,000.

Previous winnings:

2019 City of Light $3,500,000
2018 Gun Runner $6,000,000
2017 Arrogate $6,000,000

Just to expand on this, the problem with the way the purse was reported on this race was the phony earnings horses were given credit for in the official records. It wasn't even the winners that mattered most. I mean sure, an extra million (or 500k in City of Light's case) is a lot, but the most ridiculous cases were the also rans.

In 2018, the 4th place finisher became an instant millionaire when in fact he only broke even on the race. The 5th place finisher was given earnings of 850,000 when in fact he lost 150,000. And the rest were credited with 650,000 in earnings when they really LOST 350,000.

I'll be the first to admit I really don't care about things like career earnings, but it is was just sloppy and deceitful. And this kind of stuff carries over into things that do matter, like falsely reporting run ups and distances, for example.

[groupie doll]

Originally Posted by cj

I would assume the issue is money way more than the late notice. 20,000,000 is a LOT more than 3,000,000.

I hate these races over in the those wretched places, but I'm not going to knock somebody for wanting to take a shot at that kind of money.

I was thinking more the difference between 3,000,000 and 10,000,000 (or whatever it was last year) rather than the purse of the Saudi Cup, but it's still a big disparity, yeah.

I agree on the geography...

[Robert Fischer]

I want parimutuel wagering for the Saudi event. I can see how they are likely to get a couple of horses,

..and Saudi becomes a sort of 'leverage' vs. Pegasus, say for some sort of 'appearance bonus', should you be a star horse in such a position to choose.