Pegasus 2026: Outside draw does not worry Velázquez, Ortiz

The outside draw has been the kiss of death for win tickets in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Horses who get stuck with posts 9, 10, 11 and 12 in what is now a Grade 1, $3 million race are 1-for-30 in the nine runnings of the Pegasus. Gun Runner was the lone winning exception.

Jockeys Irad Ortiz Jr. and John Velázquez have seven Eclipse Awards between them. They refused this week to concede defeat to the post-position draw for the 1 1/8-mile race, which has just a 41-yard dash to the first turn.

Head to Head: Handicapping Pegasus World Cup.

Ortiz and White Abarrio, who combined to win the 2025 Pegasus from post 4 for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., carry morning-line odds of 4-1 on Saturday from post 11.

“I think that’s a great post for him,” Ortiz said. “He kind of likes to be to the outside. When he won he broke more from the inside, but he was able to get clear early on the first turn, and I think that was the key. Hopefully he breaks good. If he breaks sharp enough, he should be involved and in the clear already by the first turn, and that should be fine.”

At least 7-year-old White Abarrio, who has won 10 graded stakes and earned $7,151,920, races from off the early pace. Velázquez brings his Hall of Fame credentials to ride 4-year-old Captain Cook, a 15-1 long shot who has shown a preference for being forward early. He goes from post 9.

“It all depends on the break and the horse that you’re riding,” said Velázquez, who trainer Todd Pletcher is pairing with Captain Cook for the first time. “This horse looks like he has been sprinting. If he breaks well, he’s going to be in the first two or three going to the first turn.”

Making that dash more challenging this weekend by a surplus of early speed. Undefeated program favorite Disco Time should be forward from post 1. So should California shippers Full Serrano from 3 and Madaket Road from 6. Between Captain Cook and White Abarrio, there is speed afoot from Mika in post 10.

There might be a temptation to quarter-horse out of the gate and spend a lot of energy to avoid being caught wide in the first turn. But Ortiz and Velázquez said that is not for them.

“You don’t want to do that,” said Ortiz, who won the Pegasus in 2020 with Mucho Gusto and 2022 with Life Is Good. “At that distance I’ve just got to break the horse very good. When they break very good and clear, it makes your life a lot easier. When you break (in a rush), it’s kind of hard, because you have to have everything go your way. You don’t want to be too far, so you want to save some ground in that first turn, too.”

Velázquez said as long as he does not have trouble coming out of the starting gate, Captain Cook’s early speed cannot help but be a factor in the Pegasus.

“I assume that he’s going to break well and get a position going to the first turn,” he said. “There’s not so much to stress about when a horse like this looks like he has speed and should be pretty well-placed in the first turn.”

Velázquez also said the conditions early Saturday will tell him a lot about what he has to do with Captain Cook. The Pegasus will be the last of 13 races on what is forecast by the National Weather Service to be a sunny, 80-degree afternoon with a 20% chance of showers.

“We have to see how the track is playing that day and see how the speed is holding, so it’s hard to tell,” said Velázquez, who won the race four times when it was the Donn Handicap (G1) before 2017. “We’ll watch how the track is playing, and then we’ll go from there, but obviously with the kind of speed that my horse has, he’s going to be in the first three.”

Ortiz had White Abarrio two lengths off the pace racing in the four path up the backstretch last year. He moved forward from fourth to take the lead late in the second turn en route to a 6 1/4-length runaway. Ortiz believes that same strategy could work to his advantage from the wide draw.

“Honestly, the style of this horse is a bit different,” he said. “It all depends on the style of the horse, and the break is the key. If you break good and can come down quick, you clear some horses inside, and you probably make that turn. You don’t want to make that turn that wide, so I think that’s the key.”

Beyond the verbal confidence from Ortiz and Velázquez, connections for White Abarrio and Captain Cook can take solace from the Florida Derby (G1). Staged over the same course and distance as the Pegasus, the spring race produced winners from posts 9, 8 and 11 in the last three years. Ortiz rode Forte to the 2023 victory from the 11 hole, and Velázquez was aboard for Fierceness’s win from the 8.

“We had to deal with it,” Velázquez said. “We’re going to go and ride the best race we can.”