Daniel Alonso’s Skippy Longstocking narrowly held off a late outside challenge to win the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3) Saturday at Gulfstream Park by a head. This victory secured the durable 6-year-old a place in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) scheduled for Jan. 24.<\/p>\n
The 1 1\/16-mile race, open to horses aged three and older, serves as a preparatory event for the Pegasus World Cup\u2019s 1 1\/8-mile showdown at Gulfstream. The day\u2019s 11-race card included five stakes races, notably the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G3) turf event for horses three years and older, which is a lead-up to the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).<\/p>\n
Exaggerator, last year\u2019s Harlan’s Holiday winner, aimed for a comeback but struggled recently with finishes of seventh in the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga and eighth in the Charles Town Classic (G2), where he suffered a hiccup-like diaphragmatic spasm. Trainer Safie Joseph Jr. shared cautious optimism, noting the six-year-old had never trained better despite inconsistent recent performances.<\/p>\n
Skippy Longstocking, who claimed the Hollywood Gold Cup (G2) at Santa Anita in May but faced two setbacks in August, was ridden with strategic patience by Tyler Gaffalione. The horse stayed close behind pacemaker stablemate Hold My Bourbon through fast early fractions, briefly losing ground as the leader tired but rallying strongly in the stretch. Gaffalione and Skippy Longstocking overcame Poster\u2014favored at 3-2 and ridden by Flavien Prat\u2014in a thrilling final furlong duel.<\/p>\n
This sets up an exciting clash at Churchill Downs on Nov. 9 between the seasoned Skippy Longstocking and the promising 3-year-old Godolphin-bred Poster, who recently returned from injury with an impressive allowance win. Despite Poster\u2019s strong challenge, Skippy Longstocking\u2019s veteran savvy secured the hard-fought win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of him and all credit goes to Saffie and his team,\u201d Gaffalione said. \u201cHe warmed up well and gave us a courageous performance.\u201d Skippy Longstocking completed the 1 1\/16 miles in 1:43.05, marking the 10th major victory of his career and bringing his earnings over $3.7 million.<\/p>\n
Joseph praised the horse\u2019s resilience, saying Poster\u2019s early momentum was thwarted when he had to adjust, allowing Skippy Longstocking to prevail. \u201cHe\u2019s got heart\u2014that\u2019s something you can\u2019t teach,\u201d Joseph added. Skippy Longstocking, second favorite to Hold My Bourbon with a 2-1 record on Saturday, placed third in last year\u2019s Pegasus World Cup, also won by Joseph\u2019s stablemate White Avario.<\/p>\n
Joseph remains hopeful for Pegasus success with a favorable post position, recalling Skippy Longstocking\u2019s strong effort against White Avario despite a poor draw. Meanwhile, Poster, trained by Eoin Harty, missed the Road to the Kentucky Derby after a right front leg injury but showed promise finishing third in the Geoff Ruby Stakes (G3) before his setback.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This thrilling duel not only highlights Skippy Longstocking\u2019s enduring competitiveness but also sets an exciting stage for the upcoming Pegasus World Cup. For horse racing fans, this rivalry symbolizes the sport\u2019s blend of strategy, heart, and high stakes, promising memorable showdowns that keep the tradition alive and vibrant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daniel Alonso’s Skippy Longstocking narrowly held off a late outside challenge to win the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3) Saturday at Gulfstream Park by a head. This victory secured the durable 6-year-old a place in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) scheduled for Jan. 24. The 1 1\/16-mile race, open to horses aged three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2955],"class_list":{"0":"post-34193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-horse-racing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}