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Carson Blevins / Eclipse Sportswire

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is no stranger to success at Gulfstream Park, having led the championship meet standings an unprecedented 18 consecutive years between 2004 and 2021.

Pletcher has often been at his best on the biggest days, such as his record eight victories in Gulfstream’s signature race, the $1 million Florida Derby (G1), one of the most prestigious prep races in the country on the road to the Triple Crown.

Since the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) was introduced in 2017 and the supporting program expanded to include complementary grass races in 2019 and 2022 Pletcher has once again been prominent, winning the Pegasus World Cup with Life is Good in 2022 and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) with Colonel Liam in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s a great day of racing,” Pletcher said. “It’s an enthusiastic, different kind of crowd. The Pegasus has turned out to be a marquee older horse race, and to have the two turf races complement it as well as a great undercard, it’s really kind of the first big day of racing on the year. It seems like it’s found a home, and it’s good to see that kind of racing and that quality of horses running this early in the year.”

Once again Pletcher will be well-represented Saturday. He has Locked and Crupi entered in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup, Major Dude and Grand Sonata in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, and Raqiya and Bless My Stars in the $500,000 Filly & Mare Turf (G2).

Pletcher and his former assistant, Michael McCarthy, who has Formidable Man in the Pegasus Turf, are both going for a Pegasus sweep. McCarthy won the World Cup with City of Light in 2019 and the Filly & Mare Turf with Queen Goddess in 2023.

Crupi ran third in last year’s Pegasus World Cup, beaten less than five lengths after rallying from last. Winner of the Suburban (G2) last summer, he was most recently placed fourth in the Clark (G2) over Thanksgiving weekend.

“I think he’s remained pretty consistent,” Pletcher said. “He’s a horse that’s a little bit pace dependent. He wants to drop back and make a run and will benefit if there’s a good, solid pace. He’s been pretty consistent over his career. I thought his third in this race last year was a big effort and if he can improve on that a little bit he can hopefully get a piece of it again.”

Locked, the narrow 5-2 program favorite over White Abarrio (3-1), was knocked from the Triple Crown trail last spring and resurfaced in the fall with back-to-back victories in New York capped by beating his elders in the Cigar Mile (G2) on Dec. 7.

“We were frustrated. Obviously we had high hopes going into his 3-year-old campaign coming off a Grade 1 win in the Breeders’ Futurity and third in the Breeders’ Cup. He had a setback so it kind of delayed us, but we got on track late,” Pletcher said. “We’ve always had very, very high expectations for him and he delivered in a big way as a 2-year-old, and to beat older horses in the Cigar Mile in his second start as a 3-year-old I thought was a big effort. I think he’s going to get even better going further.”

Millionaires Major Dude and Grand Sonata are both multiple graded-stakes winners each seeking their first Grade 1 success in the Pegasus Turf. Major Dude has been third or better in 12 of 18 starts with seven wins including a rallying neck triumph in Gulfstream’s Pegasus Turf prep, the Fort Lauderdale (G2) on Dec. 21.

“Major Dude is ultra-consistent,” Pletcher said. “I think he likes a little bit of cover (to) make a late run like he did in the Fort Lauderdale. Hopefully he can work out that same kind of trip.”

Grand Sonata ran fourth in the Fort Lauderdale, beaten 1 1/2 lengths in a solid bounce-back effort after finishing a troubled 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. The blinkers the 6-year-olds wore for the first time in the Fort Lauderdale will come off Saturday.

“We experimented with some blinkers on last time and it maybe had him a little closer to the pace than we’d like him, so we’ll take the blinkers off for this race,” Pletcher said. “He’s a horse that has shown he’s capable of winning a big one when things go right. Hopefully backing him up in the Fort Lauderdale and sharpening him up a little bit will have him on point for this.”

Irish-bred Raqiya was a front-running winner of the one-mile Goldikova (G3) on the Del Mar turf over Breeders’ Cup weekend in her first domestic start. She’s likely to be among the front-runners again, having drawn the rail under internationally acclaimed jockey Frankie Dettori.

“She was impressive at Del Mar and we picked her up after that. She settled in beautifully and she’s been training great. We’re excited about getting her going in there,” Pletcher said. “I think there’s enough speed in this race. She’s probably going to get a little bit of cover. She showed at Del Mar she’s capable of going to the front but we’ll kind of leave that in Dettori’s hands and see what he thinks.”

Bless My Stars is a South Africa-bred mare that is a Group 1 and Group 2 winner at home who ran sixth by less than two lengths in the one-mile Suwannee River (G3) Dec. 21 at Gulfstream in her lone U.S. start. Irad Ortiz Jr., up in that race, returns to ride.

“I think she’s a filly that wants to settle and make a run, so she’d benefit from a good pace,” Pletcher said. “I thought she had a good effort actually in her first race here. She was on the far outside and that’s a tough draw going the mile here. She had to kind of circle the field and she closed really well and didn’t get beat far. Irad was very pleased with her. I think with that race under her belt it can move her forward.”

Among the 15 horses Pletcher has entered on the Pegasus Day program are Chop Chop, Whatlovelookslike and Gilded Edge in the $165,000 La Prevoyante (G3), Upstanding in the $165,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) and Capture the Flag in the $215,000 William L. McKnight (G3).