Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational – Race 10 at Gulfstream Park – Post Time 3:45 PM Eastern
Top Win Contenders: Destino d’Oro, And One More Time, Caitinhergrtness, Proctor Street
Another contender is for exactas: In Our Time
Destino d’Oro and And One More Time both ran career-best races off a layoff in the Tropical Oaks on December 13, with Destino d’Oro winning by a head over And One More Time, each earning a 104 Equibase Speed Figure. Both are four-year-olds, which means they can do better. Destino d’Oro also earned a 105 figure when he won the Grade 3, Pucker Up, in August. And One More Time won the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes in September 2024. She was off on a year-long layoff, coming back to win a race in September before coming in second in the Tropical Oaks. Both fillies start at 12 to 1 odds, so I would bet both to win.
Caitinhergrtness has four of her six wins on all-weather, including the My Charmer Stakes on December 21, earning a 106 figure. In the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes last October, she rallied and made the lead at the sixteenth but was beaten a half-length, getting a 107 figure. Either of those races could give her a shot to finish second or her fifth consecutive win.
Proctor Street earned a pair of 107 figures last July at this distance on turf, and her win in the Cardinal Stakes on November 27. Gaffalione has been up and with this mare has won five races and all three in the money races this year, starting at odds of 12/1.
In Our Time is the horse the others have to catch as she has led the start in her last five races, including two straight runners-up in the Grade 2 Franklin Stakes in October and in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes on November 30, where she earned a competitive 105 figure. She also won at Gulfstream Park in the Cellar Shiraz Stakes in November 2024, and in last year’s Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational, she finished third by just a little less than two lengths. She finished third in the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes in March 2024, where she earned her best 107 figure. She rode once with Irad Ortiz, Jr., early in her career and won, and he gets on again. Considering In Our Time has finished six seconds with three wins in 14 career turf races, which makes her a horse to include in exactas.
Handicapper Picks
Win bet: Considering four horses – Destino d’Oro, And One More Time, Caitinhergrtness, Proctor Street – each have about 25% probability to win and all four horses’ starting odds are 8 to 1 to 12 to 1, so I think that two of those that are at the highest near post time or at odds of 4 to 1 or higher are the ones to bet..
Exacta:
Destino d’Oro, And One More Time, Caitinhergrtness, Proctor Street over In Our Time
Pegasus World Cup Invitational – Race 13 at Gulfstream Park – Post Time 5:39 PM Eastern
Top Win Contenders: Mika, Disco Time
Other contenders are Banishing, Full Serrano, Captain Cook
Mika and Disco Time each have a higher probability than others in this year’s Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Mika opens at 8 to 1 compared to Disco Time at 8 to 5. Mika has raced eight times, with four on turf, and another was his debut at four and a half furlongs. So, we are only looking at dirt routes, where he finished second in the first two before winning by nine lengths and 14 lengths. His win in November came off a six-month layoff, earning him an excellent 108 Equibase Speed Figure. Then he went with the wolves to run in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap. Mika led a fast pace from the start and only missed winning by a neck. Mika improved to a 114 figure in that race, and in his third off a layoff today, he will be even faster, and so I think he has a good shot.
Disco Time is undefeated in five races. He won three races from November 2024 through January 2025, then was sidelined. He came back to win in September and November. His first win was the Grade 3 Lecomte, putting him on people’s Road to the Derby list. However, Disco Time was injured after his win in the 2024 Lecomte, according to trainer Brad Cox, who said he had “a little setback.” After an eight-month layoff, Disco Time won the Saint Louis Derby, then the Dwyer with a career-best 112 Equibase Speed Figure, the third-highest speed figure in the field. He gets the inside post and has the right style to be close to the lead from the start, giving him a good chance to run a new career-best race and one to add to his career and keep his undefeated record.
Banishing has finished in first or second place 15 times in 25 dirt races. At this nine-furlong distance, he won twice and finished in the money in two other races over five tries. His best races have earned from 112 to 116 figures, so I think he should be used in exactas, as he starts at 20 to 1.
Full Serrano won the Breeders’ Dirt Mile in November 2024. Then he finished second in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes in September in preparation for last year’s Dirt Mile, but he finished fifth. He has won three off layoffs, and his best efforts earned 115 and 117 figures. In his two races at greater than a mile in the U.S., he finished second both times. He opens from 12 to 1.
Captain Cook won the Wither Stakes at this distance in the Pegasus last February and was in the Road to the Derby group, but he finished fourth in the Wood Memorial last April. He finished third in the Grade 3 Peter Pan in May and third in the Maxfield. Then Captain Cook moved to trainer Pletcher. In the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, Captain Cook led late in the race, missing by a nose, earning a career-best 108 figure, then he ran second in the Grade 3 Perryville Stakes in October. Captain Cook is off a layoff of four months, but this four-year-old could be bigger, stronger, and has a shot.
White Abarrio, I am taking a stand against him even though he won the 2025 Pegasus World Cup and is the second favorite at 4 to 1. He was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, then entered the Mr. Prospector six weeks ago and was scratched again. He finished second in the Mr. Prospector in January 2025 before winning the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, but since he missed this prep last year, this is not a good sign.
Handicapper Picks
Win bets: Mika and Disco Time at odds of 5 to 2 or higher.
Exacta:
Mika, Disco Time over Mika, Disco Time, Banishing, Full Serrano, and Captain Cook
Disco Time over Mika, Banishing, Full Serrano, and Captain Cook
Disco Time, Banishing, Full Serrano, and Captain Cook over Mika