2019 Pegasus World Cup Winner
May 7 - City of Light
This handsome son of Quality Road was both a Breeders' Cup winner as well as the Pegasus Cup winner. I had painted for William Warren 16 or 17 years ago when I painted his Horse of the Year Saint Liam.
The question would be which race to paint; I figured it would be the Breeders' Cup (which I thought I would have preferred because the Breeder’s Cup was on a sunny beautiful day, the Pegasus was in one of those South Florida monsoons that turns Gulfstream Park into the Everglades.) Then we decided to do two paintings of him. I was sure we would paint both of those races but nope, Mr. Warren had me paint the Pegasus twice. He kept one and gave the other to trainer Mike McCarthy.
Mr. Warren is one of the ultimate class acts in our industry. When he gets his calendar each year or any correspondence over the years, I will always get a letter back on his stationery with the most sincere and gracious message.
I get told that my artistic talent is a blessing, but my blessing is that because of my art, I get to meet some of the most amazing people and in the process, I get rewarded by painting some really cool horses along the way.
Sire: Quality Road
Grandsire: Elusive Quality
Dam: Paris Notion
Damsire:Dehere
Other relatives: Unknown
Sex: Stallion
Foaled: 2014
Country: United States
Colour: Bay
Breeder: Ann Marie Farm
Owner: William & Suzanne Warren
Trainer: Michael W. McCarthy
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Record: 11 Starts: 6 - 4 - 1
Earnings: $5,662,600
Major races: Malibu Stakes (2017), Triple Bend Stakes (2018), Oaklawn Handicap (2018), Pegasus World Cup (2019), Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (2018)
Awards: Champion Older Male Horse (2018)
Post Career: After the Pegasus World Cup, City of Light was retired to stud at Lane's End Farm
City of Light had one of the most picture perfect endings to a racing career in recent memory. He won his final two starts, both at the Grade 1 level, and walked off the track in the Pegasus World Cup winner's circle on his way to a top stallion job in Kentucky. He was a bay colt born in May of 2014. His sire was Quality Road, the brilliant sprinter and mile specialist who has become one of the leading sires in the country at Lane's End Farm. His dam was Paris Notion, by Dehere. The female line included Grade 1 winning millionaires Cacoethes, Subordination, and Careless Jewel, the same Saratoga Alabama Stakes winner from 2009. He raced for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr. in partnership with Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable and others, and was trained by Mike McCarthy.
His career took a year or two to find its full level, but once he did, he was rarely beaten. He won the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita to close out his three year old season in 2017 and continued to climb through the older horse division in 2018. He took the Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita and the Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park in the spring, and he capped his summer with one of the best efforts of his career in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs. Under jockey Javier Castellano, he broke sharp, took the lead, and never let his rivals get close, winning by a length and a half over Seeking the Soul. That score might have been a fitting finale for many horses, but his connections decided to bring him back one more time. The Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January 2019 turned into his masterpiece. Under sloppy conditions, City of Light beat reigning Breeders' Cup Classic winner Accelerate by five and three quarter lengths in the most lopsided Pegasus World Cup in the race's young history.
He retired with six wins from eleven starts and earnings of more than 5.6 million dollars. He never missed the board in his entire career. He went home to Lane's End Farm in Kentucky to stand at stud at a fee that quickly rose as soon as his first runners hit the racetrack. He has gone on to sire multiple Grade 1 and stakes winners, and his daughters are already proving to be useful broodmares. City of Light is the kind of horse breeders dream about. He carried a top class American sire line, he had a deep and useful broodmare family, and he closed his career with a perfect winning streak at the highest level of the sport. He earned every bit of the spotlight that name suggests.
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