Saturday marks the fifth running of the Pegasus Cup at Gulfstream Park and the third rendition of the Pegasus Turf. The purse money has been greatly decreased since these races began, but that does not mean we can’t make a dime or two on this event in 2021. Our angle here is going to be play the double and hope for a double play. Because we are normally a low-risk, high yield type investor, we are going to pick two horses in each race with hopes of hitting one out of the park.

Obviously we start with the Pegasus Turf as it is the opening leg of the late two-bagger. Run at a mile and three sixteenths, this race appears to be wide open. That’s a good thing for the wagering public as that could set up a yee-haw payout in this late double. A 12 horse field means the money will be spread out as an evenly matched bunch goes to post. West coast shipper Anothertwistafate comes in off a nice score in the San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita on January 2. Running out of the Peter Miller barn, this five-year old son of Scat Daddy normally likes to be out front. Sitting at 5-1 on the morning line could be a gate-to-wire candidate in this million dollar go over the Gulfstream grass. Our second selection is certainly not a huge reach, but like a wise man from the west coast once told me… “A short price is better than a long face”. Largent appears to be a horse for the course as he has three wins in four lifetime starts at this south Florida oval. His most recent run was a two length score in the Ft Lauderdale Stakes on December 12. A five year old son of the red hot sire Into Mischief, the Todd Pletcher trainee is sitting at 9-2 on the morning line.

Once the richest race in North America, the Pegasus will be run in 2021 for only three million dollars Note we said “ONLY”. Make no mistake, this is still a Louis Vuitton-like purse. A few of the heavy hitters in the older horse division will be absent, but a nice 12 horse field will duel on the main track. The morning line favorite is Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go (5-2). Two years ago City of Light pulled off the Dirt Mile-Pegasus double and this son of Paynter certainly possesses his pappy’s speed. Trainer Brad Cox is very pleased with how his horse is coming into the race and the mile and an eighth distance should not be a problem. Our other selection is where we take a swing for the cheap seats. Coastal Defense is 15-1 on the morning line and will likely go off at much more. With only two wins in nine lifetime starts and neither being in Stakes company, why would we pick this five-year old to take home the cheese? Trainer Dale Romans believes in this son of Curlin and has seen some improvement in this versatile runner. Fully capable of shocking the world, a front end speed duel could set things up for a huge upset here. He only runs them when they are right, but Romans ain’t scared and neither are we!

Projected post time for the Pegasus Turf is 4:59 pm on January 23 with the main event slated for 5:44.