The Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes returns to Gulfstream Park in Florida on January 25, 2025, marking its ninth running with a $3 million purse.
This Grade 1 race, run over 1⅛ miles on dirt, has established itself as one of North America’s premier winter racing events, attracting some of the sport’s biggest stars.
The 2025 edition promises an intriguing matchup between Breeders’ Cup Classic winner White Abbario and champion four-year-old Locked, setting the stage for what could be one of the most competitive renewals in the race’s history.
Though, in fairness, there have only been eight previous races, so ‘history’ might be pushing it a little. That said, it has produced some fantastic winners and has proved pretty lucrative for connections, particularly in the earlier years when the prize pot was significantly higher than it is today.
The very first race, in 2017, saw Arrogate set the track record of 1:46.83, a mark that still stands today. Arrogate’s victory came during the race’s peak purse era when it briefly held the title of the world’s richest horse race with a $16 million prize pool in 2018.
Interestingly, each year after that saw a sharp decrease in funds, so in 2019, it dropped to $9 million and in 2020, it dropped again to $3 million.
At the same time, the entry fee structure also changed, plummeting from $1 million in 2017 and 2018 to free in 2020.
But, before we get into the nitty-gritty of just why the money has changed so dramatically over the last eight years, let’s take a look at the line-up for the Pegasus World Cup in 2025.
Runners, Gate Numbers & Odds
| # | Horse | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mixto | 10/1 |
| 2 | Saudi Crown | 10/3 |
| 3 | Newgrange | 20/1 |
| 4 | White Abarrio | 2/1 |
| 5 | Crupi | 20/1 |
| 6 | Stronghold | 10/1 |
| 7 | Steal Sunshine | 50/1 |
| 8 | Vitality | 66/1 |
| 9 | Mystik Dan | 8/1 |
| 10 | Skippylongstocking | 10/1 |
| 11 | Locked | 2/1 |
| 12 | Power Squeeze | 50/1 |
With the gate numbers now finalised, let's take a closer look at the top three contenders who are leading the way in the betting markets on the best horse racing betting sites for 2025.
Locked
Locked is an interesting proposition because once it was confirmed that Fierceness and Sierra Leone would not be running, he quickly became one of the front runners.
Trained by Todd Pletcher (Fierceness) and sired by Gun Runner, he is half-brother to Sierra Leone – it really is a small world in horse racing.
On paper, he hasn’t had the same career defining wins or earnings as the other two, but he’s no slouch either.
Less experienced with only five starts, he had a good career start in 2023 with wins in a maiden at Saratoga and a Grade 1 at Keeneland in the Claiborne Breeders.
With 2024 on the horizon, everything was looking good, with the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown races on the cards. Unfortunately, in March, it was announced that Locked had sustained a knee injury that required a lengthy rest period to heal.
So, he stayed on the sidelines for most of 2024, returning only on December 7th. Thankfully it was a fantastic return where he notched up a win in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct, setting him nicely for the Pegasus World Cup on January 25th.
White Abbario
White Abarrio enters the Pegasus World Cup as a formidable contender with an impressive record of eight wins from 19 starts and career earnings of $5.2 million.
The six-year-old gray has shown exceptional form at Gulfstream Park, winning six of eight races on this track.
His victories in the 2023 Whitney Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic demonstrate his ability to compete at the highest level.
After returning to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., he's shown promising form with recent strong workouts at Gulfstream, including a four-furlong breeze in 48.34 seconds.
A Breeders Cup Classic winner in 2023, he cannot be underestimated.
Saudi Crown
Saudi Crown, priced at 9-2 in the morning line, brings front-running speed to a race that lacks pace setters.
Trained by Brad Cox, who won this race in 2021 with Knicks Go, Saudi Crown enters after a confidence-boosting two-length victory in the Tenacious Stakes.
That said, in his run prior to that, the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar in November, he finished last of 13 runners, a whopping 58 lengths behind the winner, Full Serano.
Undoubtedly, he can be inconsistent, but the lack of other speed horses in the race could allow him to control the pace and potentially steal the race from the front.
Race Statistics and Favourites
Will it be a three horse race in 2025, or will the winner come from further down the pecking order?
Looking at the betting patterns, favourites have performed exceptionally well in the past.
From the previous eight runnings, five favourites have won the race, including National Treasure in 2024 and Life Is Good in 2022.
Art Collector, who won in 2023, is the exception rather than the rule going off on odds of around 15/1, the biggest since the race began.
Of course, anything can happen on the day, but the reality is that there is a strong correlation between market confidence and race outcome.
Bob Baffert leads all trainers with three victories, securing wins with Arrogate (2017), Mucho Gusto (2020), and most recently National Treasure (2024). He doesn't have any entries in 2025.
In the jockey standings, Irad Ortiz Jr. holds the record with two victories, achieved in 2020 and 2022.
This year he will be on board White Abbario so it might be worth considering that when you're whittling down your favourites.
Back To The Money
Earlier, I noted that the prize money and entry costs had dramatically dipped over the last eight years.
This was driven by several key factors, the biggest of which was the fact that the original model had proved unsustainable.
Under the original format, 12 shareholders each paid $1 million to purchase a position in the starting gate.
The high entry fees created multiple issues, not least of which was limiting participation to only the wealthiest owners. It also made it difficult to consistently attract a full field of quality horses.
Essentially, it created a lot of financial risk for owners who had to commit large sums without guaranteed returns. Because of this, the model was strained, and the entry fee was cut.
In 2020, the Stronach Group ultimately abandoned the shareholder model in favour of an invitational format that eliminated entry fees and focused on attracting the highest-quality horses rather than the highest-paying owners.
Ultimately, they have created a more sustainable and accessible premier racing event, which is undoubtedly what they wanted in the first place.
