Pegasus World Cup Odds & Picks – Cyberknife Favored in first Grade 1 Race of 2023

• The $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational is Saturday at Gulfstream Park
• Who is the best older horse in the country right now?
• Bet on Cyberknife, Proxy, Skippylongstocking, Defunded, or a longshot in the Pegasus World Cup odds?

The seventh edition of the Pegasus World Cup is unlikely to have the superstar winner we have seen in the past in the Pegasus World Cup picks. Last year between the Breeders Cup and Pegasus all the horse racing world could talk about was the matchup between Life Is Good and Knicks Go. Life is Good won easily, ending the 2021 Pegasus and Breeders Cup Classic winner Knicks Go’s career. Previous Pegasus winners include Arrogate and Gun Runner.

With Flightline, Life is Good, and seemingly most other notable older horses from last year retired, the Pegasus is lacking star power. Cyberknife is the favorite, despite finishing second in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile in November. Simplification, who was seventh in the Dirt Mile is the only other Breeders Cup participant trying the Pegasus. Could that open the door for an upset?

Let’s look carefully at the field and consider what betting options present value.

2023 Pegasus World Cup Odds

Odds as of January 27

Cyberknife is the biggest name in the field in the Pegasus World Cup odds. The Haskell Invitational winner duked it out last year with prominent three-year-olds like Epicenter, Taiba, Rich Strike and Zandon. With a new year comes new storylines, and which older horses emerge as stars in 2023 begins in the Pegasus.

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Post time for the mile-and-an-eighth $3 million dollar feature on the main course at Gulfstream Park is slated for 5:40 pm EST. South Florida is expected to have breezy conditions with temperatures in the mid-’70s and a 15% chance of rain on Saturday. NBC will have television coverage.

Let’s look carefully at some of the top contenders to consider in your Pegasus World Cup picks.

Cyberknife By Default?

Cyberknife is the most recognizable name in the field because he participated in the Kentucky Derby last year, raced against top three-year-olds, and participated in the Breeders Cup. Though he won four of nine races in 2022, from May forward he won two out of six. The Haskell was indeed his major triumph.

Holding off Taiba in New Jersey was impressive, and finishing second behind Epicenter in the Travers Stakes was strong too. Finishing third in the Pennsylvania Derby after Taiba and Zandon wasn’t awful, and missing by a nose in a watered-down version of the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile was ok.

Cyberknife could improve as a four-year-old and prove to be the best older horse in the world, or show himself to be a nice horse that wasn’t good enough to win the biggest races. His +250 line makes it reasonable to bet on him if you like his chances, or easy to bet against if you prefer other options.

Older Options to Win Pegasus?

Cyberknife has faced horses older than him just once and lost to Cody’s Wish in the Breeders Cup. Having to run against open company can be difficult for some horses. While the older entrants in the Pegasus do not tower over the field on paper, they do offer reasonable options.

Proxy was two-for-two as a two-year-old and failed to win in four tries as a three-year-old. He was off for more than 10 months prior to his four-year-old debut last February. In six races last year, Proxy won twice, finished second a pair of times, and was third on a couple of ocassions. His most recent race, his grade 1 debut, was a dandy.

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Though the win at Churchill Downs in November was not against a Breeders Cup field, Derby winner Rich Strike was in it. Proxy has gotten better and better, and his late 2022 form would have a big shot on Saturday.

As Bob Baffert horses go, Defunded is a very modestly bred five-year-old. Baffert is known for training pricey horses but Defunded cost only $15,000. He didn’t run as a two-year-old, and went two for six as a three-year-old, beating only maidens and fairly cheap optional claimers, while finishing second in a couple of graded stakes races with short fields. Last year he won three of six races and finished the year with back-to-back significant scores.

Defunded gets top jockey Irad Ortiz on Saturday and may look to win wire-to-wire.

Get Her Number may be a late developer. He didn’t hit the board in four races as a three-year-old, but last year won three of eight tries and maybe trainer Peter Miller figured it out late in the year. Ger Her Number was so so as a turf horse and improved as a dirt sprinter, but last time out enjoyed the one-turn mile at Aqueduct. You could argue that his last four races are his best four.

What Second-Tier Four-Year-Old Could Make the Leap?

Cyberknife raced competitively against the top three-year-olds last year. Skippylongstocking, O’Connor, Simplification, and White Abarrio did not. That doesn’t mean they won’t make the jump as four-year-olds.

Skippylongstocking was a distant third in the Wood Memorial, finished an uncompetitive fifth in the Preakness Stakes, and wasn’t close to Mo Donegal or Nest in the Belmont Stakes. He won the West Virginia Derby, and Harlans Holiday Stakes against the second-tier competition.

Skippy’s best career race came on December 31. He beat O’Connor and Simplification in the victory. A repeat of that effort would be very competitive in the Pegasus.

O’Connor was the favorite in the Harlan’s Holiday after making his US debut in an optional claiming win at Gulfstream in October. His first 18 races came in Chile and included nine victories.

Simplification raced 10 times in 2022, and both his victories were at Gulfstream Park. He was fourth in the Kentucky Derby but finished behind horses in this race in each of his last four tries.

White Abarrio beat Simplification twice last year but wasn’t competitive against the top-tier three-year-olds. His third-place effort in December’s Cigar Mile was a career-best.

While that was an improved effort, Get Her Number, still beat him. On the flip side, White Abarrio is four for four at Gulfstream Park.

Pegasus World Cup Prediction

In a race that does not have an established superstar, it is hard to take a short price in your Pegasus World Cup picks. Do you go with an older horse that is a little more battle-tested, or a four-year-old that has more upside?

Baffert is the only trainer to win the Pegasus twice, and Ortiz is a major jockey upgrade on Defunded. He likes the distance, and the price is right in the Pegasus odds.

Pegasus World Cup Picks: Defunded (+600)