All eyes in the horse racing world turn to Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 29 for the return of the Pegasus World Cup! The one and one eighth mile race for older dirt horses drew a field of nine, and the purse is one of the richest of the American racing year: $3 million! It is one of the best races of the year, and this is the place to find out where and how to bet it!
The Pegasus World Cup has been run since 2017, and modern greats like Arrogate and Gun Runner count themselves among its champions. Knicks Go, who won the Pegasus with authority in 2021, returns this year to try and become the first horse to win the Pegasus twice.
Can Knicks Go do it, or will someone else be able to spoil his career finale? Read on to find out!
Not all of us are lucky enough to take a vacation in Florida for this year’s Pegasus. That’s okay! You can still have a fun and profitable time betting the Pegasus World Cup online from the comfort of home, or anywhere with an internet connection! This is the right time to make your account at one of the best online sportsbooks
All of our recommended sportsbooks have what you need: great user interfaces, real Vegas odds, and trusted deposit and cash-out features. These sites also offer great bonuses for Pegasus World Cup players! Look through your options, find the bonuses that suit your betting style best, and get ready to bet the Pegasus World Cup with confidence!
This is the official field for the 2022 Pegasus World Cup including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning lines:
These morning lines are only the track’s best guess about what the odds will become post time. You can get an advantage by betting the Pegasus World Cup online. Top online sportsbooks give you the advantage of fixed-odds betting: Keep in mind that the morning line is only the track’s best guess for what the odds will be when post time comes around.
Betting the Pegasus World Cup online gives you an advantage since online sportsbooks will let you lock in your odds before the race. Make sure to watch the odds as the race gets closer, and place your bet when you’re getting an overlay!
 |  |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Knicks Go | +125 | -130 | +125 |
| Life Is Good | +135 | +150 | +135 |
| Chess Chief | +1600 | +3300 | +1600 |
| Sir Winston | +1600 | +2800 | +1400 |
| Stilleto Boy | +2000 | +2000 | +2500 |
| Endorsed | +2200 | +2800 | +2500 |
Now that you know the best places to bet the Pegasus World Cup online, it is time to get to know the horses in the field.
When looking for a winner in the Pegasus World Cup, the favorites are usually the place to look. After all, in five editions of the Pegasus, all five winners have either been the betting favorite or the second choice in the wagering. The top two choices on the tote board this year will be #1 Knicks Go and #4 Life Is Good.
Defending Pegasus champion Knicks Go will likely be the favorite. He will have to send from the rail, and he has proven his ability to get a mile and an eighth around the sometimes finicky Gulfstream Park dirt. However, at a minuscule price, he can run into trouble if he runs into other quality speed up front, a horse fast enough to keep him from cruising cozily clear much of the race.
Enter Life Is Good. Coming from a win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the source of two of the last three Pegasus winners, Life Is Good has top-quality miler speed. He is fast enough to take it to Knicks Go early, and also better drawn than the favorite. With pedigree appeal to stretch out to nine furlongs, Life Is Good should be able to attend the pace early and keep going late.
Though a longshot has never won the Pegasus World Cup, there has been at least one horse at 10/1 or more on the tote who has finished in the top three, and sometimes two big prices in the trifecta. A time-tested strategy for cashing in on the Pegasus World Cup is finding the right longshots to fill out the intra-race exotics with a quality favorite.
#8 Endorsed is a strong Gulfstream Park horse, with money finishes in each of his four tries over the course. Though most of his work has come over sprint distances, both of his mile and an eighth tries have resulted in second-place finishes in stakes races at the quality Saratoga meet. With the tactical speed to work a trip, he should find a good spot and keep going for a share in the lane.
#3 Stilleto Boy has been a consistent under-the-radar horse in his career. Though his biggest win came in the Iowa Derby last year, he went on to hit the board in a pair of Grade 1 races in California after that, including the Awesome Again (G1), a race at the same distance as the Pegasus. With tactical speed and the ability to race well at many different tracks, he should find another good effort.
#5 Empty Tomb has hit the board in five of seven tries at a mile and an eighth, a positive for an exotics possibility in a race at that distance. Though he does not have quite as much early speed as the market leaders, he has enough speed to get a good spot early and he has the stamina to keep going under jockey Paco Lopez, who consistently rides well at Gulfstream Park.
Once you have made your accounts on the best online racebooks and taken a look at the contenders, here are the bets to make on the biggest race of the year.
About the Author
For a decade, Rowan Ward has been making horse race predictions and wagers in Chicago, and has been writing about horse racing for nearly just as long. Understanding the various factors that influence a race's outcome, they often find that the age-old saying "the pace makes the race" can uncover worthwhile betting opportunities. When it comes to handicapping, their favorite races are those held locally in Chicago, major stake races across the country, and two-year-old maiden races with intriguing bloodlines.
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