The Fort Lauderdale Stakes takes centre stage on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where defending champion Major Dude, fellow millionaires Wolfie’s Dynaghost and Chasing the Crown, and graded winners Cugino and Steal Sunshine headline a competitive field of 10 older horses.
The 69th running of the Fort Lauderdale Stakes, open to three-year-olds and up, will be contested over 1 1/8 miles on the grass. It forms part of an 11-race Pegasus Preview Day programme worth $750,000 in total purses, beginning at 12:20 p.m., and includes five stakes races, two of them graded.
Named after the coastal city located 14 miles north of Gulfstream Park, the Fort Lauderdale serves as a local preparatory race for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) on January 24. Also on Saturday’s card are the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3), a lead-in to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1), and the $150,000 Suwannee River, a steppingstone toward the $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G2).
Spendthrift Farm’s Major Dude will attempt to become the first horse to successfully defend the Fort Lauderdale title. Last year, the Todd Pletcher-trained runner rallied to secure a neck victory over millionaire Fort Washington, marking his fifth career stakes win and his third at graded level.
Major Dude has recorded two wins and two second-place finishes from six starts at Gulfstream Park, including victory in the 2023 Kitten’s Joy (G3). His most recent appearance came in the Artie Schiller over one mile on the Aqueduct turf on October 11, a performance that lifted his career earnings beyond $1.4 million. He is two-for-three at the Fort Lauderdale distance.
Pletcher said the decision was made to give the horse extra time between starts, noting that Major Dude has performed well when fresh and ran strongly in this race last year. He added that the horse remains part of the stable’s core group moving forward.
Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, aboard for the last three starts, returns to ride from Post 8. Major Dude was listed at 5-1 on the morning line.
Woodslane Farm’s homebred gelding Wolfie’s Dynaghost arrives in search of his 14th career win. Now trained by Brian Lynch, the seven-year-old enters off a front-running 2¾-length success in the River City (G3) over 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs on November 8.
Lynch said the horse transitioned smoothly into his care and continued the form he showed previously. Wolfie’s Dynaghost has past success at Gulfstream, having won the Carousel Club overnight handicap twice on the Tapeta surface and finishing second in the 2022 Appleton (G3) over turf.
Lynch previously captured the Fort Lauderdale with Heart to Heart in 2016 and referenced the longevity of older horses, citing past performers who reached their peak later in their careers.
Irad Ortiz Jr. is named to ride Wolfie’s Dynaghost from Post 2. The gelding was installed as the 2-1 programme favourite.
Chasing the Crown, a six-year-old owned by Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher and Angelo Carlesimo, breaks from Post 3. Trained by Mike Maker, he is a millionaire stakes winner who has placed three times in graded company, including a third in the 2025 Pegasus Turf, finishing 1½ lengths behind Spirit of St Louis and Integration. He previously won a $500,000 handicap at Kentucky Downs and was seventh behind Wolfie’s Dynaghost in the River City.
West Point Thoroughbreds and Jimmy Kahig’s Cugino lines up from Post 6. The four-year-old captured last year’s Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream and has since finished second twice over the course, including a neck defeat in the 2024 Colonel Liam. Trained by Shug McGaughey, Cugino enters on a two-race winning streak.
He rallied from off the pace to land the Red Bank over one mile at Monmouth Park on September 1, before edging the Red Smith (G2) over 1 3/8 miles at Aqueduct on November 2. Flavien Prat, who rode in the Red Smith, returns for the mount.
Steal Sunshine, a six-year-old owned by Michael Iavarone, Jules Iavarone and partners, draws Post 1. The multiple stakes winner is seeking his first victory on turf, having previously recorded one second from four attempts. His résumé includes four stakes wins, highlighted by the 2024 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), and he enters off a 1½-length success in the Finallymadeit overnight handicap.
Completing the field are Siege of Boston, fifth in last year’s Fort Lauderdale and placed three times at Grade 3 level; Beach Gold; Naptown; Quatrocento; and Grade 3-placed Divin Propos.
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