Top 5 Pegasus World Cup 2019 Contenders to Know

We are now less than two weeks away from the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series at Gulfstream Park! This year’s edition is unlike any other, as we now have TWO major races to discuss: the Grade 1, $9,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Grade 1, $7,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. We can’t wait for this mega-event on January 26, 2019, and we are already hard at work putting together this EPIC Inside Track to the Pegasus World Cup wagering guide that you can GET NOW in presale! But while you wait for the picks, here are five horses that you have to know about leading up to Pegasus World Cup Day:

1. Audible, Pegasus World Cup Invitational

One of the only horses left standing from last year’s 3-year-old crop that included Triple Crown Winner Justify, after winning the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Audible finished third in the Kentucky Derby. However, after the Kentucky Derby, injuries forced him to miss seven months of action. He returned on the undercard of Breeders’ Cup Saturday to win the $200,000 Cherokee Run Stakes at Churchill Downs, then was a close second in the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes, his local prep race for the Pegasus World Cup.

2. Kukulkan, Pegasus World Cup Invitational

This year’s Pegasus World Cup will feature a Triple Crown Winner! While it may not be the one that we all wanted to see, the Mexican Triple Crown-winning Kukulkan will be part of the field. He is undefeated in 14 lifetime starts while hardly ever being in danger of actually losing a race. In his most recent start, he shipped to Gulfstream Park for Caribbean Classics Day and romped in the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe by over 10 lengths. He will ship back once again to the United States, but this time, the competition will be much stiffer.

3. Yoshida, Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational

Yoshida was a turf monster to begin his career, then switched to the dirt last season. That move paid off with a victory in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga before an eventual fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Now, trainer Bill Mott has decided to switch him back to the turf, which very well could be his preferred surface. Last year, he also won the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs before shipping to Royal Ascot, where he was fifth in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes.

4. City of Light, Pegasus World Cup Invitational

He’ll likely be the main challenger to what should be a heavily-favored Accelerate. City of Light had a tremendous 2018 campaign, which ended with a resounding win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs. Upsetting Accelerate will be a challenge; however, City of Light did it once in 2018, which was Accelerate’s only loss of the season. That defeat came in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, which was contested at the exact same 1 1/8-mile distance as the Pegasus World Cup. His connections are hoping that lightning can strike twice in this major event.

5. Aerolithe, Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational

This Group 1-winning filly from Japan will look to try her hand in the United States for the inaugural Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. Aerolithe has built up quite the resume in her native land, winning or finishing second in nine of 13 starts while amassing earnings of over $3 million. Her biggest win came in 2017 when she took home the prestigious Group 1 NHK Mile Cup. The whole idea of the Pegasus World Cup Turf was to provide more international flavor to this day, and that is exactly what happened when this filly came aboard.

Get the latest news on the upcoming Pegasus World Cup, along with probable contenders for both the Grade 1, $9,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Grade 1, $7,000,000 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational by visiting our official Pegasus World Cup page.

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