David Thiselton

Gavin Lerena departed for the USA on a Cape Town flight last night (Monday) and is not only looking forward to being reunited with One Stripe, but he is also very excited about riding him in the US$1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational on Saturday.

One Stripe will face 12 other rivals at Gulfstream Park in the one mile and one furlong race and he has drawn four.

Gavin said about the draw, “I think that’s a good draw. Obviously, you don’t really want the fence and from draw four I can stay one out.”

Gavin will only be having the one ride.

His visa is a bit restrictive and right now in the USA nobody would dare taking any chances with the immigration authorities, so he will stick to riding the South African horse in the invitational race.

It will be the first time Gavin has ever ridden in the USA, so riding in a couple of races on the day would have been ideal.

“I will walk the course though,” he said.

He has also studied One Stripe’s last race, in which he had an easy task at the weights in an optional claimer over a mile, but he was just 0,4 seconds outside the course record. Trainer Graham Motion has pointed out to Gavin the track was running very fast that day, so he will take that into account in his strategy.

The way jockeys ride in the USA is a touch different to South Africa and that is likely due to there being no false rail.

The race tends to be faster and riding out wide is not the absolute no-no that it is in South Africa and this is probably because when going at a decent pace the horse is able to stride out so is less likely to over race.

However, riding out wide is usually seen more in the USA dirt races than on turf.

Gavin said, “Let’s hope the pace is on. I think he will enjoy a good pace.”

Gavin would like to sit on One Stripe before the big day, but added, “He did his final proper work yesterday (Sunday) , so I am going to try and get a sit on him but if it’s not part of the program it’s fine, I will give him a nice pat!”

He said about the racing style of the One World colt.

“He wants to be ridden quietly early and he then has that electric finish, The straights are a bit short for him, but if I am able to unwind him a bit earlier, he will kick on strong.”

The Gulfstream Park straight is under 400m long, but One Stripe did use it to his advantage last time when using his turn of foot to steal a march on his chief opposition and before running away with the race.

This Gr 1 level race will be a different ball game though and Gavin will have to earn his riding fee and hopefully a cut of the stakes money.

If he were to win it, it might well be the biggest cheque he has ever landed in his career with the only competition being the HK$500,000 he earned for winning the Longines International Jockeys Challege at Happy Valley in Hong Kong in 2015.

Lerena rode One Stripe in his last six starts in South Africa for four victories including in the Gr 2 Cape Punters Cup, the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas and the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate.

He had been due to ride One Stripe in the Breeders Cup Mile, but opted out as it would have been a day or two after him completing a very long suspension and he felt it would have been unfair on the horse and the connections as he would have not been race fit or race sharp.

Hollywood’s racing manager Anthony Delpech gave Gavin a call just before Christmas about him riding in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and he obviously jumped at it when it was confirmed just before New Year’s Eve.

He believes One Stripe has a chance.

He said, “That last win would have given him a lot of confidence again. They had no rain up until then but he did nearly break the course record on the fast ground.”

There has been a lot of rain in Florida recently so the going will likely not be fast this time.

However, Gavin believes One Stripe would get 2000m, so the one mile and one furlong trip of the Pegasus World Cup Turf should not pose a problem.

It will be the first time he has raced beyond a mile.

Races in the USA generally have a “run up” too. The official distance has a point with a timing device on it, but the stalls are placed a little way from this point and the timing of the race only happens when they reach the timing device.

The field is not as strong as the Breeders Cup and One Stripe is actually as short as 6/1.

The favourite is the Chad Brown-trained six-year-old Program Trading, a three-times Gr 1 winner.

Gavin concluded, “I’m excited. I’m looking forward to seeing One Stripe Again, I can’t wait to see him.”