HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cyberknife enters his final as the favorite.
The 4-year-old is the first choice of the 5-2 morning line for Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park, which will be run over one mile and one-eighth on dirt. It will be the final race before last year’s Haskell Stakes and Arkansas Derby winner begins his career at stud.
“Obviously, we’re taking the show on the road,” said Brad Cox, Cyberknife’s trainer. “He has never been to Gulfstream. But I am very happy with the way he is training. I think as long as he can get out there and get into the race early on, he’ll be effective. I think he will like the mile and an eighth setup at Gulfstream.”
It’s shaping up to be a wide-open Pegasus, the richest race offered at Gulfstream Park and traditionally one of the richest races in North America. In 2022, only the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf featured larger prizes, and the $3 million Pegasus purse is the same as the one on offer at last year’s Kentucky Derby.
Proxy settled in as the 9-2 second choice after Sunday’s draw, followed by Skippylongstocking at 5-1 and Defunded at 6-1. They are the clear favorites in the eyes of bettors; White Abarrio, Art Collector and O’Connor were next at 10-1.
Defunded is trained by Bob Baffert, who is looking for his third Pegasus win after Arrogate in 2017 and Mucho Gusto in 2020.
“It’s going to be a tough race,” Baffert said. “You never know. The charge. The break. Everything has to go well.”
The field, from the rail: Proxy, Simplification (15-1), Ridin With Biden (20-1), White Abarrio, Defunded, Art Collector, Skippylongstocking, Get Her Number (15-1), Last Samurai (20-1 ), Cyberknife, Stilleto Boy (30-1) and O’Connor.
