Photo:

Del Mar / Benoit Photo

With so many fond memories of success at Gulfstream Park, trainer Michael McCarthy couldn’t be faulted if he saddled Formidable Man for his start in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational with a good measure of confidence.

“It really depends on the horse. We feel like we have a horse that’s on the top of his game right now.,” McCarthy said. “We’re looking forward to getting back there.”

The Southern California-based trainer will return to Gulfstream Park with a chance to pull off a personal Pegasus World Cup sweep with William Formidable Man in the 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for 4-year-olds and up.

McCarthy saddled City of Light for a dominating triumph in the 2019 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1). The former assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher notched his second Pegasus World Cup day victory with Queen Goddess, who captured the Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G3) in 2023.

City of Light capped a multiple Grade 1 stakes-winning career with a rousing 5 3/4-length score in a $9 million edition of the Pegasus World Cup. The son of Quality Road, who was followed to the finish line by Seeking the Soul and favored Accelerate, entered the Pegasus off a dominating front-running triumph over Seeking the Soul in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs.

“I thought he was a horse that was on the improve when he ran in the Pegasus.,” McCarthy said. “Unfortunately, it was his last race before he was sent to the breeding shed. I thought he could have had a horse of the year-type campaign as a 5-year-old. As it turned out he was sent to the breeding shed, and he’s proven to have success there as well.”

City of Light is the sire of Formidable Man.

Queen Goddess ventured from Southern California with Grade 1 credentials, having won the 2021 American Oaks (G1) at Santa Anita. The daughter of Empire Maker had prepped for her Gulfstream start with a victory in the Robert J. Frankel (G2) at Santa Anita.

“My confidence was very high. She had been training very well,” McCarthy said. “We were excited about being able to secure the services of Luis Suez. We thought he would fit her style nicely, and everything worked out.”

Queen Goddess’s return trip to Gulfstream didn’t go as well when she finished off the board in last year’s Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf, which would be the final start of her career.

“She did not get a good trip. Nothing worked out for her that day,” McCarthy said.

Formidable Man will seek his fourth consecutive stakes victory while making his 2025 debut in the Pegasus Turf.

He debuted on turf at Del Mar in September 2023, fighting off race-long pressure and fighting back in deep stretch to prevail in the mile maiden special weight race by a half-length. After a sixth-place finish while making his dirt debut in the San Vicente (G2) at Santa Anita to kick off his 2024 campaign, Formidable Man was returned to turf. Showing a distinct preference for the surface with a runner-up finish and a victory in optional-claiming allowance company, he finished second at 24-1 after setting the pace in the American Turf (G2) at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

The Kentucky-bred colt, who disappointed with a sixth-place finish in the Audubon at Churchill a month later, blossomed upon his return to the West Coast, winning three straight stakes to close out his 3-year-old campaign. Formidable Man recovered from early bumping to close from ninth to win the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar July 20, He rallied from mid-pack to capture the Del Mar Derby (G2) Sept. 1 before establishing Grade 1 credentials in the Nov. 30 Hollywood Derby, in which stalked the pace before kicking in through the stretch to prevail in the 1 1/8-mile stakes by three-quarters of a length.

“He’s a lot like his father, who won the Pegasus Cup dirt. He is getting better with maturity. The pedigree showed that with age he should get better as well,” said McCarthy of the $375,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale.

McCarthy’s graded-stakes success at Gulfstream Park has hardly been limited to Pegasus World Cup day. He saddled Ce Ce for back-to-back victories in the Princess Rooney (G2), a seven-furlong Breeders’ Cup qualifier for fillies and mares, in 2021 and 2022. After rolling to a 3 1/4-length victory in the 2021 Princess Rooney, Ce Ce went on to capture the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint by 2 1/2 lengths at Del Mar. The daughter of Elusive Quality defended her Princess Rooney title the following year by 6 1/2 lengths.

“Both times, I liked the spacing of the races heading into the Breeders’ Cup. I thought it was important for her to have some time between her races,” McCarthy said. “The way it fell on the calendar, although it was on the other side of the country, it worked out well for her.”

One thing is clear concerning McCarthy’s successes at Gulfstream: He ships to win.