The 2023 Pegasus World Cup Invitational kicks off at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale on Jan. 28. The event is a race for older thoroughbreds and has established itself as one of the richest races of the year.
The Pegasus World Cup and the Kentucky Derby are two of the richest horse races on the continent. With a purse of $3 million, only a handful of races in North America will pay the winner more. Post time is 5:34 p.m., and coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on NBC, Peacock and TVG.com.
Purse has gone down from $16M high in 2018
Horse racing is one of two sports Florida bettors can legally wager on. The other is jai-alai. Floridians can place bets at the event or one of the several pari-mutuel facilities across the state. They also have the option to bet online through apps like TVG.
For a brief period, the race was the richest on the planet.
The inaugural running of the Pegasus World Cup offered a $12 million purse in 2017. As a result, the race moved ahead of the Dubai World Cup to become the richest horse race in the world. In 2018, organizers increased the purse to $16 million. However, officials steadily reduced the purse from there.
The Pegasus World Cup was worth $9 million in 2019 and dropped to $3 million in 2020, where it currently sits.
The race gets its name from the mythical stallion with wings of Greek mythology. A huge statue, Pegasus and Dragon, overlooks the Gulfstream complex where the horse race is held.
Here is a look at past winners and purses of the Pegasus World Cup:
- 2017: Arrogate, $12 million
- 2018: Gun Runner, $16 million
- 2019: City Of Light, $9 million
- 2020: Mucho Gusto, $3 million
- 2021: Knicks Go, $3 million
- 2022: Life Is Good, $3 million
Wagering on 2023 Pegasus World Cup
Last year’s Pegasus World Cup broke records, with $43.8 million wagered over 12 races, an 8% increase from 2021. The full-card record for wagers was $41.8 million in 2020.
Bettors will again wager millions of dollars on this year’s races. Floridians can use the TVG app to make wagers across many bet types. This includes basic wagers like picking a horse to win, place or show.
Single-race exotics allow bettors to select horses for exacta, quinella, trifecta and superfecta. Multi-race options include daily double selections all the way up to betting the winners of six consecutive races.
A total of 12 horses are in contention at the world’s richest horse race, but only one can ride off into the sunset as the winner.
Pegasus World Cup Lineup And Odds
| Post | Horse | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proxy | 6-1 |
| 2 | Simplification | 12-1 |
| 3 | Riden with Biden | 40-1 |
| 4 | White Abarrio | 20-1 |
| 5 | Defunded | 22-1 |
| 6 | Art Collector | 24-1 |
| 7 | Skippylongstocking | 5-1 |
| 8 | Get Her Number | 14-1 |
| 9 | Last Samurai | 16-1 |
| 10 | Cyberknife | 7-2 |
| 11 | Stilleto Boy | 50-1 |
| 12 | O’Connor | 10-1 |
Cyberknife the one to beat this year
The horse to beat is Cyberknife. Former Pegasus-winning trainer Brad Cox, who sent out Knicks Go in 2021, conditions Cyberknife.
This will be the thoroughbred’s one and only shot at a Pegasus World Cup win before his services as a stud are sought out. Cox is confident in his horse at Gulfstream.
“I’m very happy with the way he’s training,” said Cox. “I think as long as he can get away well and get involved in the race in the early part, he’ll be effective. I think he’ll like the configuration of the mile-and-an-eighth at Gulfstream.”
Cyberknife won two Grade 1 races last year, the Arkansas Derby and the Haskell. He finished his campaign with a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Proxy, White Abarrio and Art Collector are all contenders to win. At 50-1 odds, Stilleto Boy is the long-shot pick.
