Pegasus World Cup Invitational 2022: Odds, free PPs, picks, more

Racing fans get one final chance Saturday to watch Knicks Go, and they get to see him face an ultra-talented challenger.

Knicks Go (6-5) is favored for the final start of his career, the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. Post time from Gulfstream Park is 5:34 p.m., with NBC showing the 1 1/8-mile race for older dirt runners.

The 2022 Pegasus features a showdown between Knicks Go, the soon-to-be 2021 Horse of the Year, and dominant Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good (7-5). Both runners boast excellent speed out of the gate and seem primed for a pace showdown.

Brad Cox trains Knicks Go, whose 2021 season included a geared-down victory in this event. The son of Paynter went on to Grade 1 victories in the Whitney Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic, among other events.

Now 6, Knicks Go is off to stud after racing Saturday for the sixth Grade 1 win of his career. Jockey Joel Rosario gets the call once again.

Life Is Good sports a 5-for-6 career record, his lone defeat a runner-up finish in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) last August at Saratoga. He is otherwise unbeaten, including a gate-to-wire romp in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Todd Pletcher trains the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt, who made his first three starts for trainer Bob Baffert before being moved east. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. retains the mount.

The biggest name among the Pegasus’ seven other runners is Sir Winston (12-1), the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner. The Mark Casse trainee has won only three of his nine starts since that Belmont score but enters off a Valedictory Stakes (G3) victory at Woodbine.

The shortest price on the morning line beyond Knicks Go and Life Is Good is Chess Chief (10-1), last-out winner of Fair Grounds’ Tenacious Stakes for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Here is a look at the field for the 2022 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (trainer and jockey in parentheses) with morning-line odds:

1. Knicks Go (Brad Cox, Joel Rosario), 6-5

2. Chess Chief (Dallas Stewart, Reylu Gutierrez), 10-1

3. Stilleto Boy (Ed Moger Jr., Jose Ortiz), 20-1

4. Life Is Good (Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz Jr.), 7-5

5. Empty Tomb (Robert Falcone Jr., Paco Lopez), 20-1

6. Sir Winston (Mark Casse, Edwin Gonzalez), 12-1

7. Title Ready (Dallas Stewart, Tyler Gaffalione), 20-1

8. Endorsed (Mike Maker, Umberto Rispoli), 20-1

9. Commandeer (James Toner, Julien Leparoux), 30-1

TimeformUS’ pace projections predict Life Is Good and Ortiz to get the early lead on Knicks Go and Rosario. Long shot Empty Tomb is projected to lead the chase behind the two favorites.

Visit Horse Racing Nation’s free past performances page for more information on the Pegasus, plus some of the weekend’s other big races.

Pegasus links

HRN staffers and contributors make expert picks for the 2022 Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

Matt Shifman offers full-field analysis for the Pegasus, identifying contenders beyond the obvious two.

Looking for a horse to bet beyond Knicks Go and Life Is Good? Reinier Macatangay writes why Stilleto Boy offers value underneath on vertical tickets.

Neither Knicks Go trainer Brad Cox nor Life Is Good trainer Todd Pletcher say their runners will back down from a speed showdown.

Is Knicks Go a future Hall of Famer? Cox thinks the son of Paynter has already done enough to earn induction, but a second Pegasus win would surely help his case.

Pletcher says that, after the Pegasus, Life Is Good may run in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1).

Life Is Good jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said his colt is “just one of those kinds you don’t see every day.” Ortiz won the 2020 Pegasus with Mucho Gusto.

The matchup between Knicks Go and Life Is Good has overshadowed the entry of 2019 Belmont Stakes hero Sir Winston. Mark Casse talked about why he chose this challenging spot for the 6-year-old.

Long shot Stilleto Boy has owner Steve Moger and trainer Ed Moger Jr. dreaming of a big payday in the Pegasus.

Jockey Jose Ortiz will assume the mount Saturday aboard Stilleto Boy after jockey Kent Desormeaux was arrested for domestic abuse.

This week on HorseCenter, hosts Shifman and Brian Zipse make their picks for Gulfstream’s three Pegasus races.

Cox joins the Ron Flatter Racing Pod to preview Knicks Go’s final race, while Super Screener creator Mike Shutty handicaps the $3 million race and some of the undercard.

Saturday stakes

Here is a look at other graded stakes races taking place Saturday at Gulfstream and Santa Anita. All times are EST.

Click here for a look at Saturday’s Road to the 2022 Kentucky Derby prep, the $750,000 Southwest Stakes, and other Oaklawn Park’s stakes.

Related: Saturday plays: Clear single in Pegasus World Cup Pick 4

1:27 p.m. – $150,000 La Prevoyante Stakes (G3), 4-and-up fillies and mares, 1½ miles (turf), Gulfstream, TVG

Always Shopping (7-5) returns to Gulfstream to defend her 2021 victory in the La Prevoyante. Todd Pletcher trains the 6-year-old Awesome Again mare, local winner of the Via Borghese Stakes on New Year’s Eve, who will have jockey Tyler Gaffalione up. Christophe Clement trains Beautiful Lover (7-2), who was third last out in the Via Borghese. Sorrel (6-1) finished seventh in the Via Borghese and looks for a first North American win in her fourth start for Clement.

2:31 p.m. – $200,000 W.L. McKnight Stakes (G3), 4-and-up, 1 ½ miles (turf), Gulfstream, TVG

Abaan (2-1) makes his graded stakes debut for Pletcher off a win in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes on Christmas Eve at Gulfstream. Jockey Luis Saez will ride the 5-year-old Will Take Charge gelding. Mike Maker trains Glynn County (3-1), a Churchill Downs and Keeneland allowance winner who settled for ninth Oct. 22 at Keeneland in the Sycamore Stakes (G3). Temple (4-1) was runner-up in the 2021 W.L. McKnight for Maker and aims for a first graded score here.

3:03 p.m. – $200,000 Inside Information Stakes (G2), 4-and-up, seven furlongs, Gulfstream, TVG

Just One Time (7-2) brings a 4-for-5 record into her graded-stakes debut for trainer Brad Cox. Jockey Joel Rosario rides the 4-year-old Not This Time filly, last-out winner of Penn National’s New Start Stakes on Oct. 22 for her previous trainer, Michael Salvaggio Jr. Michael Trombetta trains Jakarta (4-1), who also enters off a stakes win in Pennsylvania, with hers coming Dec. 28 at Parx in the Mrs. Claus. Four Graces (9-2) won a pair of Grade 3 races in 2020 but is 0-for-4 since, with her most recent result a runner-up finish Jan. 6 in a Gulfstream allowance for trainer Ian Wilkes.

3:36 p.m. – $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G3), 4-and-up fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles (turf), Gulfstream, TVG

Regal Glory (2-1) aims for her fourth career graded score in this rebranded edition of the former Marshua’s River Stakes. Chad Brown trains and Jose Ortiz rides the 6-year-old Animal Kingdom mare, who finished 2021 by winning Del Mar’s Matriarch Stakes (G1) on Nov. 28. Pletcher trains Sweet Melania (5-1), a Grade 2 heroine who enters off a local Suwanee River Stakes (G3) win Dec. 18. Shifty She (6-1), a Grade 3 winner, ran second to Sweet Melania in the Suwanee River for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

4:12 p.m. – $150,000 Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3), 4-and-up, one mile, Gulfstream, TVG

Fearless (5-2) runs in this spot off his local Harlan’s Holiday Stakes (G3) win Dec. 18 rather than taking on Knicks Go and Life Is Good in the Pegasus. Jockey Luis Saez gets the call on the 6-year-old Ghostzapper colt, winner of last year’s Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2), for Pletcher. Bill Mott trains Speaker’s Corner (7-2), a Belmont Park and Saratoga allowance winner who was second Nov. 27 at Aqueduct in the Discovery Stakes. Liam (4-1), another Pletcher trainee, returned off a layoff of more than 14 months to win a Gulfstream allowance race Dec. 15.

4:49 p.m. – $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1), 4-and-up, 1 1/8 miles (turf), Gulfstream, NBC

Colonel Liam (3-1) aims to score a Pegasus Turf victory for the second straight year in his first start since finishing eighth June 5 at Belmont in the Manhattan Stakes (G1). Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride the 5-year-old son of Liam’s Map for Pletcher. Pletcher also trains Never Surprised (7-2), a 6¼-length winner of the local Tropical Park Derby on Dec. 26. Sacred Life (6-1) is a Grade 3 winner for Brown who was second at Del Mar on Nov. 27 in the Seabiscuit Handicap (G2).

Related: Zipse: Colonel Liam returns to defend Pegasus Turf | Analysis: Spread wide in Pegasus Turf Invitational

5:10 p.m. – $200,000 San Vicente Stakes (G2), 3-year-olds, seven furlongs, Santa Anita, TVG

Doppelganger (8-5), a Los Alamitos maiden winner Dec. 11, makes his second career start in this spot for trainer Bob Baffert. Jockey Flavien Prat will be up on the Into Mischief colt. Baffert also trains Pinehurst (5-2), the Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner who makes his first start since finishing fifth Nov. 5 at Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Forbidden Kingdom (5-2) was second last out Nov. 14 in Del Mar’s Bob Hope Stakes (G3) for trainer Richard Mandella.

6:52 p.m. – $100,000 Megahertz Stakes (G3), 4-and-up fillies and mares, one mile (turf), Santa Anita, TVG

Warren’s Showtime (5-2) aims for the third Grade 3 score of her career here for trainer Craig Lewis. Jockey Juan Hernandez gets the call on the 5-year-ol Clubhouse Ride mare, fourth last out Jan. 15 in the local Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint Stakes. Richard Baltas trains Bodhicitta (3-1), a Grade 2 heroine who finished second for trainer Richard Baltas on New Year’s Day at Santa Anita in the Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3). Madone (4-1), another Grade 2 winner, makes her first start since a seventh-place finish Oct. 30 in the local Autumn Miss Stakes (G3) for trainer Simon Callaghan.

7:22 p.m. – $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (G3), 4-and-up, six furlongs, Santa Anita, TVG

Cezanne (8-5) makes only the fifth start of his career, and first since winning the local Kona Gold Stakes (G3) on April 18. Baffert trains the 5-year-old son of Curlin, who will have Prat up. Baffert also trains Essential Wager (5-2), who makes his stakes bow off a Dec. 11 allowance score at Los Alamitos. Arham (4-1) also makes a first stakes start for trainer Vladimir Cerin off a New Year’s Eve allowance win at Satna Anita.