Pegasus Offers Travel for Select Breeders' Cup Winners

Gulfstream Park announced Nov. 3 that North American-based winners of this week's Breeders' Cup will be offered complimentary equine travel to Gulfstream to compete in the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series at the South Florida track.

The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1T), at 1 3/16 miles on grass, will be contested Jan. 23. 

Winners of the two Pegasus races will also have guaranteed spots in the starting gate of the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 20 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack.

Entering its fifth year, the Pegasus World Cup Championship Series has continued to attract the sport's biggest stars including champions Gun Runner , Arrogate , and California Chrome , as well as 2019 winner City of Light . The races have also drawn international participation from horses such as Aerolithe, Kukulkan, and Magic Wand.

This year the two races were run without the diuretic Lasix, a medication used to control respiratory bleeding that critics say is overused. The Pegasus World Cup was won by Mucho Gusto, while Zulu Alpha triumphed in the Pegasus World Cup Turf.

The two races will keep the same values in 2021 they had in 2020. In prior years they had been contested for more money but under a format in which participants contributed to purses by buying starting slots.

The Pegasus World Cup, inaugurated in 2017 with a sole dirt race, offered a $12 million purse in its first year and a $16 million purse in 2018. The Pegasus World Cup Turf was added in 2019, and the purse was split—$9 million for the dirt race and $7 million for the turf race. Entry slots cost $1 million in 2017 and 2018, and $500,000 in 2019.