By Jarrod Horak
This article and video includes analysis of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 24.
Pegasus World Cup field:
1 – Disco Time (8-5)
2 – British Isles (20-1)
3 – Full Serrano (12-1)
4 – Banishing (20-1)
5 – Skippylongstocking (15-1)
6 – Madaket Road (10-1)
7 – Tappan Street (6-1)
8 – Poster (20-1)
9 – Captain Cook (15-1)
10 – Mika (10-1)
11 – White Abarrio (4-1)
12 – Brotha Keny (30-1)
Also Eligibles:
13 – Lightning Tones (50-1)
14 – Catalytic (50-1).
The Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup is the 13th race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 24, 2026 and the scheduled post time is 5:39 PM ET.
Pegasus World Cup Analysis
Disco Time is a perfect 5-for-5 for Brad Cox and he was the betting favorite in all of those races. He has won at seven panels, one mile, and 1 1/16 miles, and he has set the pace, stalked, and closed. He started 2025 with a late running win in the slop in the Grade 3 Lecomte, and he returned from a layoff and easily went all the way as the favorite in the St. Louis Derby on Sept. 19. He ran off the screen in the Dwyer at one mile when last seen at Aqueduct on Nov. 8. Flavien Prat is his new rider and he sports a pair of Payson Park bullets for this.
British Isles pressed and scored by a head as a 16-1 longshot in an allowance turf route on Oct. 11, and he switched to dirt and pressed, led, and was second best to Bob Baffert chalk Nevada Beach in the Grade 3 Native Diver at a mile and an eighth on Nov. 22. He is capable of impacting the pace but I don’t expect him to be around at the end.
Full Serrano is a flat mile specialist with early-pressing speed. He set the pace and missed by a half-length in the Pacific Classic (G1) at 1 1/4 miles in 2024, and he pressed outside and scored in the BC Dirt Mile (G1) to end his 2024 season. He returned from a long layoff and romped by more than seven lengths in a flat mile allowance race at Santa Anita on 9-1-25, and he set a pressured pace and settled for the place behind Nevada Beach as the beaten 1-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Goodwood at nine panels on 9-27-25, and show finisher Privman was a next-out stakes winner. He tried to defend his BC Dirt Mile title on 11-1-25 and he chased the pace and weakened to 5th of 8 (beaten 12 lengths).
Banishing stretches back out after landing the place in the Ring the Bell at six panels at Oaklawn on Dec. 13. Prior to that, he finished 12th of 14 as a 23-1 outsider in the BC Sprint (G1). The consistent, versatile gelding won the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at this distance last year.
Skippylongstocking is a 10-time graded winner exiting a victory in the local prep for this at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 20 (Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday). The 4-time local winner has yet to capture a Grade 1 race (11 0-0-4).
Madaket Road was the morning line favorite in an optional-claiming extended sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 29 but he scratched out of that G1 Malibu prep. He was 5-2 in the Malibu on Dec. 28 and he pressed, led, and weakened to 4th of 7. He is 1-for-9 overall with four runner-up finishes and a show finish and is eligible for an entry level allowance event.
Tappan Street is 3-for-4 with a runner-up finishes at Gulfstream and the lightly raced $1 million Into Mischief colt has upside. He stalked and scored in his professional extended sprint bow. He stretched out, rallied to the lead, and was clearly second best as my top choice in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, and it was more than nine lengths back to the show finisher. He stalked and beat subsequent G1 Ky Derby winner Sovereignty in the Grade 1 Florida Derby last year. He was injured training for the Kentucky Derby and disappeared for more than eight months. He returned in a local flat mile optional-claiming event at one mile on Dec. 19 and he had to work harder than expected to win by a length at 10 cents on the dollar. He drilled a bullet for this at Payson Park on Jan. 17.
Poster won all three starts in 2024 including the Grade 2 Remsen. He rallied for the show in the Sam F. Davis (February 2025) and runner-up Owen Almighty returned to take the Tampa Bay Derby. This one was the favorite in the Jeff Ruby (G3) on all-weather ground (March 2025) and he rallied mildly to finish 4th of 12. He disappeared for more than seven months and returned in an optional-claiming flat mile turf race at Churchill in November and he stalked and scored as the favorite. He returned to dirt and closed, led, and finished a head behind Skippylongstocking in a clear runner-up finish in the Harlan’s Holiday last time. He adds blinkers and drilled a bullet for this at Tampa Bay on Jan. 6, and Junior Alvarado is his new pilot.
Captain Cook moved to the Todd Pletcher barn and removed blinkers in the Grade 1Jerkens, and he pressed from an outer post and missed by a nose as a 20-1 longshot. He was the favorite in the Perryville (G3) at seven furlongs in October and he was clearly second best behind romping winner Barnes. Earlier last year. He lost his last five stakes starts and this race might be too far for him.
Mika made the lead and aired by a combined 23 1/4 lengths in back-to-back dirt route starts for Brittany Russell in May (slop) and November (fast dirt), and his numbers jumped up at Laurel on 11-16-25. He cut back in distance, stepped up, and returned to the Mike Maker barn in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile on 12-6-25, and he got clear early from the inside post and missed by a neck. He figures to attend the pace under Manny Franco.
White Abarrio was a BC Dirt Mile vet scratch on 11-1-25 and he also scratched out of the Mr. Prospector on 12-27-25, and this is his first start since the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on 8-31-25. He won the Whitney (G1) in 2023 and also won the BC Classic (G1) that year. He has been up and down since with three romping wins at Gulfstream including the Pegasus World Cup last January. He is 8-for-10 with a runner-up finish at Gulfstream. He can still run at this level but he is not as fast as he once was, and the 7-year-old horse has to overcome a wide post, layoff, and slow works.
Brotha Keny was a decent sophomore last year. He won the Zia Park Derby and Bourbon Flight and was third in the Indiana Derby (G3) and West Virginia Derby (G3). He drilled a bullet for this on Jan. 10 and this is his toughest career test.
Lightning Tones won the Sunshine Classic in 2024 and he defended his title in that event on Jan. 10. The late running Florida-bred gelding is overmatched.
Catalytic finished in the top three on all ten local starts (10 3-6-1). I liked him underneath in the Harlan’s Holiday last time and he seems up against it if he gets in.
Pegasus World Cup Video