Question mark surrounds Trademark in Pegasus World Cup
At 0h04, on January 27, 2024 • By GULFSTREAM
Victoria Oliver is hoping to reverse a stable trend when she saddles BBN Racing Inc.’s Trademark for a start in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
Trademark is coming off a career-best victory in the Nov. 24 Clark Handicap (G2) at Churchill Downs. Oliver is just hoping that the 5-year-old gelded son of Upstart will be able to maintain his winning form over Gulfstream’s main track in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile headliner on a 13-race program that will also feature the $1 million 1/ST BET Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G3) and four other graded stakes.
“It concerns me. A lot of my horses don’t run well on the dirt at Gulfstream. I don’t know why that is, maybe because I don’t train down there, and I don’t run many down there,” said Oliver at her winter headquarters at Payson Park in Indiantown, FL.
Oliver shipped Trademark to Gulfstream Sunday to give him time to get acquainted with the surface.
“It’s always in the back of your mind whether he’s going to like it or not, because I’ve had horses go down there and not like it at all,” she said. “Most people are in the same boat except the local horses, so it is what it is.”
Despite her uncertainty, Oliver has been firmly committed to running Trademark in the Pegasus, rather than point to other international races.
Trademark has been a graded-stakes participant since his 3-year-old season but finally broke through with a graded-stakes victory in the 1 1/8-mile Clark, capping a productive 4-year-old campaign in which he placed in the Salvator Mile (G3) and Iselin (G2) at Monmouth, and the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill.
