MAGIC WAND INVITED TO PEGASUS WORLD CUP

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Magic Wand is among the 17 horses formally invited to run in the Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup, which will be held at Gulfstream Park on 25th January. The just turned five-year-old daughter of Galileo is also among the 12 horses invited to the second running of the Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup Turf, a race in which she was second last year. A €1.4m graduate of the Arqana August Yearling Sale, she has already earned in excess of £3.2m from her three wins, including November’s Gr.1 Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington, and ten places, eight of which were at Gr.1 level.

The format has changed for the 2020 running of the two races; no longer do places have to be purchased by owners to run their horses and the prize money has been cut to $3m for the dirt race and $1m for the turf contest.

Among the other possibles for the Pegasus World Cup are last year’s triple Gr.1-winning three-year-olds Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) and Omaha Beach (War Front), the four-time Gr.1 victor McKinzie (Street Sense) and November’s Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun To Run (Hard Spun). Magic Wand’s possible rivals, should she take the turf option, include fellow Gr.1 winners such as Arklow (Arch), Henley’s Joy (Kitten’s Joy), Next Shares (Archarcharch), Sadler’s Joy (Kitten’s Joy) and Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind), plus the former John Gosden-trained Without Parole (Frankel), successful in the Gr.1 St James’s Palace Stakes.