The field for Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup in Florida includes Crupi – a 4-year-old thoroughbred named for the late J.J. Crupi, a trainer who was No. 1 in wins at Oceanport track Monmouth Park in four different years.
Crupi died in 2019 at 79.
The co-owner of Crupi the horse, Mike Repole, told Bloodhorse.com why he chose the name. Crupi had helped pick out horses for Repole to buy at auctions.
“I always wanted to name a horse after Crupi and give him a namesake, so when I saw this colt and looked at the mare’s name, it was a no-brainer. Her name is Don’tforgetaboutme,” Repole said. “If you knew Jimmy Crupi, he was one of the big personalities in the game. One of the great storytellers. Nobody’s going to forget about him.”
Crupi is a longshot 20-1 but he’s a late-bloomer. He lost his first seven races, but after a three-month break the colt finally reached the winner’s circle at Monmouth Park in July – and he’s currently riding a hot streak of four wins in his last five starts.