Racing fans and bettors have 3 million reasons to circle Jan. 28 on their calendars. The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. unfolds around 5:45 p.m. and kicks off the major thoroughbred horse racing circuit. Below we will examine Pegasus World Cup odds and deliver betting information for the increasingly popular event.
Pegasus World Cup odds
Pegasus World Cup odds are available to bet on now. Check out the Pegasus morning line odds below.
| Post | Horse | Pegasus World Cup Morning Line Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Proxy | 9-2 |
| 2. | Simplification | 15-1 |
| 3. | Ridin With Biden | 20-1 |
| 4. | White Abarrio | 10-1 |
| 5. | Defunded | 6-1 |
| 6. | Art Collector | 10-1 |
| 7. | Skippylongstocking | 5-1 |
| 8. | Get Her Number | 15-1 |
| 9. | Last Samurai | 20-1 |
| 10. | Cyberknife | 5-2 |
| 11. | Stilleto Boy | 30-1 |
| 12. | O'Connor | 10-1 |
Pegasus World Cup betting
Cyberknife will go postward as the lukewarm 5-2 favorite in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach Fla.
The Arkansas Derby and Haskell Invitational winner drew post 10 in a 12-horse field in the 1 1-8 mile stakes race for 4-year-olds. Post time is approximately 5:45 p.m. ET. The Pegasus World Cup will headline a stellar 13-race program also featuring the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G3) and four other graded stakes. Eight total stakes will be contested for $5.3 million in purses.
Bettors can access the action at the track, at varied simulcast facilities or through FanDuel TV, formerly TVG. They can also watch it on NBC.
Cyberknife will try to make his last effort a big one. In his most recent effort, Cyberknife was beaten in a thrilling stretch duel by Cody’s Wish in the Breeders’Cup Dirt Mile in November. The post position here is not a friendly one, given the relatively short distance to the first turn. Cyberknife likes to be in a stalking position near the lead and rider Florent Geroux may have to break him early to keep position.
This is a fitting place for a farewell. Gulfstream’s sire, Gun Runner, ran the last race of his career in the 2018 Pegasus before retiring. Cyberknife’s trainer Brad Cox won the 2021 Pegasus with Knicks Go, who was then second to 2022 Pegasus winner Life Is Good.
Geroux also rode Gun Runner in his Pegasus World Cup victory.
Proxy, rated second in the morning line at 9-2, enters the Pegasus World Cup off his first career Grade 1 victory in the Nov. 25 Clark (G1) at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old son of Tapit pressed the pace before edging clear nearing the wire to win the first stakes of his 13-race career, during which he has had four runner-up finishes in Grade 2 stakes.
Joel Rosario, who rode Knicks Go for his 2021 Pegasus World Cup score, has the call on Proxy, who drew Post No. 1.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr, who leads all trainers with victories during the current Championship Meet at Gulfstream in his quest to defend his 2021-2022 title, is represented in the Pegasus World Cup field by three horses:
Skippylongstocking finished third in the 2022 Belmont Stakes and obtained a decisive victory in the West Virginia Derby. A sharp victory in the Grade III Harlan’s Holiday at Gulfstream Park convinced his connections that Skippylongstocking would be ready for this race. A win over the track is considered a significant advantage.
Jose Ortiz gets the mount.
White Abarrio sports a similar angle, boasting four wins in four Gulfstream starts. One of them was the $1 million Florida Derby last April.
He doesn’t usually run well outside of Gulfstream, but did come up with a gallant third in the Cigar Mile in the slop at Aqueduct in his last. Tyler Gaffalione will be in the irons.
O’Connor, a Group I winner in Chile, flopped as a favorite and ran fourth in the Harlan’s Holiday. Joseph believes the added distance to 1 1-8 miles will help him. Javier Castellano will ride.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert enters Defunded in search of his third success in the Pegasus World Cup. He was victorious with Arrogate in 2017 and Much Gusto in 2020. Defunded, 6-1 in post No. 5, comes off back-to-back victories in the Awesome Again (G1) at Santa Anita and Native Diver (G3) at Del Mar. He gets Irad Ortiz, the nation’s leading jockey last season with more than $37 million in earnings.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has made a late change in jockeys for Last Samurai, who will be ridden by international superstar Frankie Dettori.
The 5-year-old son of Malibu Moon (20-1; Post No. 9), who finished fourth behind Proxy in the Clark, won the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) last season.
Art Collector (10-1, Post No. 6) will be one of six Grade or Group 1 winners in Saturday’s 12-horse field. He won the 2021 Woodward (G1) at Belmont Park. The Bill Mott-trained 6-year-old campaigner won his second straight Charles Town Classic (G2) last season.
Junior Alvarado, who notched his 2000th career victory Saturday at Gulfstream, is scheduled to ride Art Collector for the first time in the Pegasus World Cup. Art Collector breezed an easy half-mile in 50 seconds Sunday at Payson Park in his final tune-up.
Get Her Number (15-1; Post No. 8) enters the Pegasus World Cup off a sharp runner-up finish in the Cigar Mile. He just missed in a thrilling stretch duel with Mind Control in the slop, losing by a head. White Abarrio was just behind in third.
The added distance and possibly better weather factors into his assessment.
Defending Gulfstream leading jockey Luis Saez has the call.
Simplification, who captured last season’s Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream and finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby (G1), made a big coming off the turn into the homestretch in the Harlan’s Holiday before settling for third.
The Antonio Sano trainee (15-1; Post No. 2) will be ridden by Paco Lopez.
Stilleto Boy (30-1; Post No. 11), who finished third in last year’s Pegasus World Cup, comes off a second-place finish in the San Antonio (G2) at Santa Anita, where he ran his career-best while winning the Californian (G2) last March.
Can he come East and retain form?
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, currently excelling with longshots at the Santa Anita meet in California, will come East with Stilletto Boy and try to say “yes”.
Ridin With Biden (20-1; Post No. 3) drew into the 12-horse field upon the defection of Super Corinto. The Butch Reid-trained 5-year-old gelding has won three of his last four starts, including a victory in the Greenwood Cup (G3) at Parx.
Emisael Jaramillo will be the jockey.
Should there be any other scratches, Hoist the Gold and Endorsed are next on the list to enter the race.
About the event
It is the first stop on the 2023 road that will ultimately span Kentucky Derby prep races, the Triple Crown, several million-dollar events and the eventual Breeders Cup in November.
The Pegasus also is noteworthy both for showcasing four-year-old thoroughbreds and providing an encore presentation for those who had been Breeders Cup stalwarts just two months earlier. Some have been entered in the Pegasus just before being retired, extending their careers by a couple of months.
That was the case last year with Knicks Go, the acclaimed 2021 Breeders’ Cup winner. It will be the case again with Cyberknife, a Breeders’ Cup runner-up, if he’s entered here.
The Pegasus will be contested at 1 1-8 miles on dirt.
It will be supported by a strong $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at 1 1-8 miles and the Filly and Mare Turf Invitational for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1-16 miles for $500,000.
The three-race package comprises most of a purse outlay of more than $5 million on Pegasus Day.
Nationwide bettors can access the action at the track, throughout varied simulcast facilities and via TVG. NBC will televise the action. The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational goes off around 5 p.m.
Pegasus World Cup history
It was launched in 2017 with the goal of becoming the world’s richest horse race. With a $12 million purse for its inaugural running, it surpassed the Dubai World Cup as the richest horse race in the world for the year 2017 and 2018.
The purse of the event rose to $16 million in 2018, but dropped to $9 million in 2019 and has steadily dipped to its current level.
Track organizers realized they could not generate the handle and notoriety to justify the enormous expenditure. Thus, $3 million became the Pegasus purse and a couple of million dollars more was spread throughout the card.
This gave gamblers an all-day showcase.
Pegasus betting odds
From a betting perspective, the Pegasus has long been the centerpiece of favorites. Its rich structure entices top horses, often a recent Breeders’ Cup winner. Any live threat has usually been spotted well before this event and will be bet.
The Pegasus’ primary gambling enticement is chalk bettors who like to put heavy money on the favorite.
That may be different this year. The horse that would fit the “prohibitive” mold, Flightline, has retired. Cyberknife may be favored, but has a hard time winning. This Pegasus field will be more wide open than some of its predecessors.
The running style of the race favors early speed and stalkers. Jockeys will use top horses early to obtain position and then hope to prevail down the lane.
Pegasus Results
The Pegasus has become a launch pad for elite horses throughout the campaign.
- Arrogate, the defending Breeders’ Cup champion, won the inaugural Pegasus and then the Dubai World Cup. Gun Runner captured the 2017 Breeders’ Cup and the career-exiting 2018 Pegasus.
- City of Light bookended the 2018 Breeders’ Cup with a romp in the rain to win the 2019 Pegasus.
- Mucho Gusto prevailed by five lengths in securing the 2020 Pegasus at a betting-friendly 3-1.
- Knicks Go captured the Pegasus in 2021 in between Breeders Cup victories in 2020 and 2021. He was in fine form, turning the field away at 6-5. He returned to create perhaps the most intriguing Pegasus of all time last year. Knicks Go and Life Is Good created the rarity of rarities, two horses both billed at 4-5 betting odds. Life Is Good got the early jump and topped Knicks Go handily.