By Bill Finley
Despite reports that The Stronach Group is having difficulty finding owners willing to buy slots in the GI Pegasus World Cup, Frank Stronach said Wednesday that he is not at all worried about the race's future.
“There is no question the race will be run in 2018,” he said. “I am not worried at all. I think we will have a full field. Who doesn't want to take part in something like that?”
The race is scheduled for Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park. In order to compete in the race, an owner must pay $1 million for a starting slot. They then have the option of racing their own horse or selling the slot to someone else. Though specific numbers have been hard to come by, it has been estimated that the majority of the slot holders made a losing bet, with some perhaps coming out as much as $750,000 short. In a recent report on the website thoroughbredracing.com, several original stakeholders said they have already decided they will not return or have yet to make up their minds.
To date, there has been no word out of The Stronach Group so far as to who's in, who's out and who might replace the original stakeholder who no longer wants to participate in the race.
The decisions came after Stronach announced that he was upping the purse from $12 million to $16 million and that the fee to buy a slot would remain at $1 million. The additional $4 million would come from Gulfstream and The Stronach Group. The additional purse money was meant to cushion the blow for those whose horses failed to finish among the top finishers. Stronach said he has no intention of adding any more of his own money to the purse.
“We have to make racing a more exciting sport and we have to grow this sport,” he said. “That's why we created this race. We're trying but we have a lot more work to do. I'm not the least bit worried about the future of the Pegasus.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
