Pegasus World Cup Day at Gulfstream Park has arrived, and one of the biggest sporting events in South Florida could turn into a Pegasus World Cup betting bonanza for horseplayers.
A huge reason for that revolves around Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), the featured race on a 13-race program without an obvious standout in a full field of 12.
Post time for the 1 1/8-mile World Cup is 5:39 p.m. ET, and the race will be broadcast by NBC. Also on the card: the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) and the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G2).
Just three of the 12 have won a Grade 1 race – Tappan Street, Full Serrano, and White Abarrio, seeking to repeat his win in the Pegasus World Cup a year ago.
Other contenders haven’t even stepped into Grade 2 company yet, including Disco Time, the 8-5 morning-line favorite who brings a 5-0 record into the race.
Another, British Isles, has spent most of his 22-race career running on turf. And there’s Skippylongstocking, a $3.7 million earner but 0-for-11 in Grade 1 stakes, including three previous tries in the Pegasus World Cup. Also add Madaket Road, who has just a maiden win in nine career starts for four-time World Cup winner Bob Baffert.
With that, there’s quite a few betting puzzles to piece together. Yes, top trainer Brad Cox conditions two of the favorites in Disco Time and Tappan Street (6-1).
| PP | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disco Time | 8/5 | Flavien Prat | Brad Cox |
| 2 | British Isles | 20/1 | Diego Herrera | Richard Baltas |
| 3 | Full Serrano | 12/1 | Joel Rosario | John Sadler |
| 4 | Banishing | 20/1 | Jose Ortiz | David Jacobson |
| 5 | Skippylongstocking | 15/1 | Tyler Gaffalione | Saffie Joseph Jr. |
| SCR | SCR | SCR | ||
| 7 | Tappan Street | 6/1 | Luis Saez | Brad Cox |
| 8 | Poster | 20/1 | Junior Alvarado | Eoin Harty |
| 9 | Captain Cook | 15/1 | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher |
| 10 | Mika | 10/1 | Manny Franco | Mike Maker |
| 11 | White Abarrio | 4/1 | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Saffie Joseph Jr. |
| 12 | Brotha Keny | 30/1 | Javier Castellano | Jose Francisco D'Angelo |
| 13 | Lightning Tones | 30/1 | Jose E. Morelos | Jose M. Castro |
Last Updated on 01/24/2026
Disco Time’s claim to fame is a win in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) more than a year ago; Tappan Street won the 2025 Florida Derby (G1); he’s the only horse to beat Horse of the Year Sovereignty; but he was sidelined for nearly nine months with an injury.
“He always trained like a talented horse before he ever ran. He started his career off a nice 3-for-3,’’ Cox said. “Then we hit a little bump in the road last winter with him. He got some time off and came back a bigger, stronger version of himself. We think he has a really big future.”
As for Tappan Street: He won an optional claiming allowance race at Gulfstream on Dec. 19.
“It was a starting point off a pretty long layoff,” Cox said. “I didn’t see anything flashy about it but, someone who’s around him on a daily basis, I do feel like he has moved forward. I feel like his works have been better since and that he’s taken a step forward. Physically, he looks amazing.”
White Abarrio, with $7.1 million in earnings, had a shaky year after his win the Pegasus World Cup. In his final two races of 2025, he finished fourth in the Whitney Stakes (G1) after being bumped around at the start and was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on Nov. 1 just minutes before post time.
“Last year we went in full of confidence,’’ Joseph said of White Abarrio. “This year, it’s a different set of circumstances. He’s never had any real down time. He would always gallop, gallop, gallop.”
White Abarrio is 8-for-10 on his home track here at Gulfstream Park. And he also won the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
All told, the race figures to be wide-open and savvy handicappers could be rewarded by accurately predicting how the race will be run.
Interestingly, Disco Time breaks from the rail under Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat and White Abarrio, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. Aboard, breaks from an outside post (gate 11).
At Gulfstream Park, the run into the first turn is shorter than at most tracks. Disco Time will try to avoid traffic problems from the rail in a large field, while White Abarrio could either settle back or attempt to get near the front heading into the first turn.
“I’m OK with it, as long as he breaks well and gets good position and is comfortable,” Cox said of Disco Time. “I don’t think he necessarily needs to be on the lead. He can lay off it. That’ll be up to Flavien (Prat) and how he breaks.”
As for White Abarrio, Joseph said: “Nothing you can do about that. Irad (Ortiz, Jr) is the best at working out bad posts. The break’s the most important thing from any draw.”
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher figures Captain Cook (15-1) has as good a chance of pulling off a victory as any other horse in the field.
“We felt like running him fresh in the Pegasus was worth a go,” Pletcher said, adding that the overall complexion of the field makes it “an interesting race that’s sort of wide open.”
Captain Cook was second in the Perryville Stakes (G3) in his last start.
Poster, with Junior Alvarado up for trainer Eoin Harty, will be equipped with blinkers to keep him focused on the task. He was beaten a head by Skippylongstocking in the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream on Dec. 20 and has won four of seven starts for Eclipse Award-winning owner Godolphin.
“He had to make up six lengths just to get to the winner. The winner got the jump, and he got the inside trip,” Harty said of the narrow loss in the Harlan’s Holiday. “We were quite wide that day, and he just came up a head short. I think if the positions were reversed, he probably would have won.
“I put some blinkers on him so, hopefully, he’ll lay a little closer and not have quite as much to do in the latter part of the race.”
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
