Exotics Plays for the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf

An overflow field of 14 has been entered for Saturday’s $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf S. (G2) at Gulfstream Park. The wide-open affair for the ladies will be contested at 1 1/16 miles on the lawn and is an especially difficult handicapping assignment that is not for the faint of heart. I will spread with multiple runners while seeking value in the tilt. 

Filly and Mare Turf Exotics

• $2 exacta box 1,4,7,12 ($24)
• 50-cent trifecta 12 with 1,4,7 with all ($15)
• 10-cent superfecta 1,12 with 1,4,7,12 with 1,4,7,12 with all ($10.80)

One contender that I will surely include in the contest is the course-loving #12 Movin’ On Up (12-1), who is one of two in the cast for conditioner Saffie Joseph. By Accelerate, the five-year-old ran well in all but one of her 2025 assignments, which includes a trio of fine runs at Gulfstream. The mare might be a notch below some of her foes in the affair, in general, but she loves this locale and will be a nice number in the tilt. She finished a head second in the local Suwanee River S. in a race designed as a prep for this one, and the tactical Kentucky-bred should have clear sailing throughout while breaking from the outside beneath Edgard Zayas. 

The Roger Attfield-trained #1 Ready for Shirl (20-1) is not super consistent and might prefer some moisture in the ground to deliver her peak performance, but the More Than Ready mare is plenty talented and comes in fresh for an expert layoff conditioner who knows how to point a runner towards a race. The five-year-old captured the Canadian (G2) at Woodbine three back while topping a good group, and if the homebred gets clear sailing from the rail in the lane, then I expect her to be a major threat late beneath Florent Geroux. 

Dance Smartly (G2) victress #4 Breath Away (8-1) ran a pair of good ones at Del Mar in the fall and has trained well in advance of her 2026 debut. The Miguel Clement pupil sports a solid 6-2-2-1 mark on the course in her lifetime, and the $625,000 November purchase has the turn of foot to be in the mix late if the pace backs up in the tilt, which is possible. I also like that Oisin Murphy will pilot the Bated Breath mare, as well. 

Chad Brown’s #7 Whiskey Decision (9-2) has a fine combination of decent early foot and a closing kick that should translate well to this course in her local bow. Purchased for $1.5 at Keeneland November, the Into Mischief five-year-old has posted two convincing wins in her last three outings and still has room to improve with just 10 lifetime runs to her credit. The bay will get first run on the deep-closing types at the top of the lane with Flavien Prat in the silks.