First run in 2017, the Pegasus World Cup horse race is held at Gulfstream Park in Hallendale, Florida, every year in late January. For 2023, the race will be run at a distance of 1 1/8 miles on the Gulfstream dirt track.
Free Picks for the 2022 Pegasus World Cup here
2024 Pegasus World Cup Contenders
The 2024 Pegasus World Cup is below. The odds will be updated once they become available.
| Horse |  |
|---|---|
| Runner #1 | TBA |
| Runner #2 | TBA |
| Runner #3 | TBA |
| Runner #4 | TBA |
| Runner #5 | TBA |
| Runner #6 | TBA |
| Runner #7 | TBA |
| Runner #8 | TBA |
Pegasus World Cup Contenders Odds evaluate the likelihood these horses will win the 2024 Pegasus World Cup.
2024 Pegasus World Cup Analysis and Picks
The 2022 Pegasus World Cup, a Grade 1 race worth $3 million, will be held on Saturday, January 25, at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. This is the fourth running of the race, which features some of the best dirt horses in North America each year.
The supporting co-feature is the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), which will draw top runners from overseas as well. The contenders, the odds, and best bets and betting sites recommendations for both races can be found here.
2024 Pegasus World Cup Contenders
Fresh off a dramatic victory in the Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita on December 28 is Fox Hill Farms’ Omaha Beach, the likely favourite in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup.
Mike Smith will ride the four-year-old son of War Front, who is trained by Richard Mandella. After victories in the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Rebel Stakes (G2) last year, Omaha Beach was the morning line favourite for the Kentucky Derby (G1) but was scratched in the days leading up to the race. He had the rest of the spring and summer off before returning to the tracks in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1).
Facing Shancelot, who is widely considered one of the best sprinters in the world, Omaha Beach fought gamely to win.
The lone blemish on his record in the last year is a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on November 2. Spun to Run is the horse that defeated him that day; the son of Hard Spun led every step of the way to score by nearly three lengths as a 9-1 surprise.
He will have a new rider in the Pegasus World Cup, as trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero found out just a week before the race that regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. has chosen to ride Mucho Gusto instead.
Mucho Gusto will try to give trainer Bob Baffert his second win in the Pegasus World Cup after he took the inaugural running with Arrogate in 2017. Mucho Gusto has won half of his ten starts and has worked four consecutive bullet workouts, which means his time was the fastest of the day amongst all workers on the track for the distance.
His five-furlong move on December 29 was the quickest of 139 horses on the day. Higher Power is one of three horses exiting the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) for this. The son of Medaglia d’Oro will be looking to give trainer John Sadler a victory after he finished third last year with Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Accelerate.
Higher Power was victorious in the $1 million Pacific Classic in August, which was the first stakes win of his career. The other horses exiting the Classic are Math Wizard, who finished fifth there after winning the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and Seeking the Soul, who finished second in this race last year.
Other expected contenders are Bodexpress, Diamond Oops, Mr Freeze, Tax, Tenfold, True Timber and War Story.
2024 Pegasus World Cup Best Bet Recommendations
Omaha Beach looks likely to continue the trend of favourites winning this rich race, and is the pick for the best bet recommendation. His odds to win the Pegasus World Cup are currently trading at +110 on many online markets, but that price will be even lower come race day, so if you like him, then you should bet him now in order to get the best odds.
To win the Pegasus World Cup
While that does not sound like it offers much value, the exotic wagers can still offer value. Here are other best bet recommendations:
Exacta Plays
- 1st: Omaha Beach (2.10)
- 2nd: Mucho Gusto (9.00) and Spun to Run (3.75)
Trifecta Plays
- 1st: Omaha Beach (2.10)
- 2nd: Mucho Gusto (9.00) and Spun to Run (3.75)
- 3rd: Mucho Gusto (9.00), Spun to Run (3.75), and Tax (26.00)
Trifecta
Superfecta Plays
- 1st: Omaha Beach (2.10)
- 2nd: Mucho Gusto (9.00) and Spun to Run (3.75)
- 3rd: Mucho Gusto (9.00), Spun to Run (3.75), and Tax (26.00)
- 4th: ALL (also known as FIELD)
2024 Pegasus World Cup Turf Contenders
The Aidan O’Brien-trained filly Magic Wand will travel from Ireland for the second running of the Pegasus World Cup Turf, won last year by likely Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar.
Magic Wand was second in this race last year and has earned more than $4.1 million. She will face a full field, including Admission Office, Arklow, Channel Cat, Henley’s Joy, Instilled Regard, Mo Forza, Next Shares, Sacred Life, Sadler’s Joy, Without Parole, and Zulu Alpha.
Without Parole is a son of Frankel now in the hands of trainer Chad Brown, who won this race last year.
2024 Pegasus World Cup Turf Best Bet Recommendations
Trainer Chad Brown is looking to go back to back with a new charge Without Parole, who is currently trending at +225. He is the best bet in this race.
Exacta Plays
- 1st: Without Parole (3.25)
- 2nd: Magic Wand (3.25) and Mo Forza (6.00)
Exacta
Trifecta Plays
- 1st: Without Parole (3.25)
- 2nd: Magic Wand (3.25) and Mo Forza (6.00)
- 3rd: Magic Wand (3.25), Mo Forza (6.00), and Instilled Regard (11.00)
The brainchild of Gulfstream Park owner Frank Stronach, the Pegasus is a unique horse racing event in that horse owners are required to purchase a starting spot in the gate – with the price for 2019 set at $500,000 – that they can then use to race one of their own horses or enter into an agreement with another owner to run one of their horses.
The race is limited to 12 starters, and for 2019 the Pegasus offers a total purse of $9 million, of which $4 million goes to the winner, making it the single richest horse race in North America.
In the first two years of the Pegasus, the horse that won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the previous November (Arrogate in 2017 and Gun Runner in 2018) returned to win the Pegasus in January. The 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, Accelerate, has been entered in the 2019 Pegasus and was pegged as the race favourite.
Betting the Pegasus World Cup
Whether you’re looking to catch a big price on a future bet, or want to wait until race day to pick the winner, you can check out the top-rated online racebook listed below, open an account and wager the full Pegasus World Cup race card from home with the convenience of using your PC or mobile device.
