The richest race on North American soil is this coming Saturday and a 12 horse field (with two also eligibles) have been drawn into the Pegasus World Cup, which will be carded as Race 13 at Gulfstream Park with a 22:40 start time. We take a look at the key horses ahead of the race…
It is fair to say that this isn’t the vintage field that we are used to for the Grade I Pegasus. Last year we had the mouth-watering prospect of Knicks Go and Life is Good facing off with the latter getting the better of the former. Looking down the previous winners and you see plenty of studs, Gun Runner, Arrogate, Constitution and Medaglia d’Oro have all won this race.
This year we have two-time Grade I winner Cyberknife as the horse to beat, who is likely to go off around the even money mark. The Brad Cox trained son of Gun Runner has long been seen as one of the premier horses of the 2022 three-year-old crop but his best win came in the Haskell whilst he came second at both the Travers and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. If this field was deeper then he might be a better price but I’m lukewarm on him at best. He’ll break from Post Position 10.
Bob Baffert has Defunded in the field with the impressive winner over Country Grammar in the Grade I Awesome Again Stakes riding a two-race win streak. This horse was one of the most disappointing as a three year-old but a couple of solid wins in 2022 has seen his stock improve somewhat. Again I’m not much of a fan so would not be looking to back him. He goes from PP 5.
Proxy has the inside gate and this son of Tapit got his first Graded Stakes win last time out when he beat a good field in the Gade I Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs. That was by far the best run of his career and he should be good for a modicum of betting interest.
Personally I’ve long been a fan of Art Collector ever since he sent Swiss Skydiver packing in the Blue Grass back in 2020. His career can be measured by high highs having won the Grade I Woodward and having back-to-back victories in the Grade II Charles Town Oaks but he has also faded in top competition failing to hit the board in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dirt Mile along with finishing fifth in a good Lukas Classic last year. He may be your value horse when we look closer at the odds later in the week.
Betfred’s market for the Pegasus will go live on Saturday morning I’ll be back later in the week with a full preview but for now here are the full Post Positions and Entries following the draw on Sunday…
- Proxy
- Simplification
- Ridin With Biden
- White Abarrio
- Defunded
- Art Collector
- Skippylongstocking
- Get Her Number
- Last Samurai
- Cyberknife
- Stilleto Boy
- O’Connor
- Hoist the Gold (A/E)
- Endorsed (A/E)
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