Knicks Go Holds Favoritism After Draw
Post Positions Were Announced on Tuesday
Nine outstanding Thoroughbreds will contest the Pegasus World Cup on Saturday and the post draw was completed on Tuesday.
All eyes were on where dominant favorites Knicks Go and Life is Good drew, but it didn’t have much of an effect on horse racing betting markets.
Knicks Go continues to be well-backed, but Life is Good will be stalking him every step of the way.
Inside Draw for Knicks Go
Drawing the inside post position could be seen as a negative for Pegasus World Cup favorite Knicks Go, but we disagree.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic winner has electric speed out of the gates and he’ll have no problem seeing off the early charge.
We expect Knicks Go to find the front and for Life is Good to take a one-out-one-back position. It would favor Life is Good with an economical run, but Knicks Go doesn’t know how to fold.
“We’re not really going to deviate from what we’ve done in the past,” trainer Brad Cox told ThoroughbredDailyNews. “[Life Is Good] is a very fast, brilliant horse. We’re not going to let him have his own way, and I think he’s probably not going to let us have our own way. We’re going to break running, hopefully, get to the lead. We’re going to be very aggressive to get him there.”
In his last race before retiring to Taylor Made Stallions, loyal fans and bettors would love to see him go out a winner. The sportsbook still has the champion listed as the favorite, so drawing the rails hasn’t done his chances any harm.
Life is Good Poised to Strike
The smaller field helps Life is Good, who would have had plenty of work to do had he drawn a wide barrier. However, he landed in post 4, so he’s going to get the perfect run.
Trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased to see the field of 12 become nine. His charge likes to push forward, but he’ll likely opt to run Life is Good just off the pace set by Knicks Go.
“I’m very happy with the draw, we were looking for something right towards the middle and that’s what we got,” said Pletcher. “Actually, I wasn’t overly concerned about where we drew once learning there would only be nine horses in the race. If they had gotten a slightly bigger field, I would have been worried if he [Life Is Good] had drawn 11 or 12.”
There has been a slight move in betting online markets for the second favorite. He was +175 at one stage but has firmed into +137.
“When you draw the rail, like Knicks Go did, it pretty much takes the guesswork out of what you’ve got to do. We’ve got to get away cleanly, but our horse has always been a good gate horse, and if he does, we should be in good shape,” Pletcher continued.
Pegasus World Cup Post Positions
1: Knicks Go
2: Chess Chief
3: Stiletto Boy
4: Life is Good
5: Empty Tomb
6: Sir Winston
7: Title Ready
8: Endored
9: Commandeer
Stiletto Boy could be problematic for Life is Good. If he jumps well from post 3, it could force Life is Good to go wide around the first turn.
That could lead to Knicks Go getting a soft lead. However, if Chess Chief and Stiletto Boy both kick up and apply pressure to Knicks Go, Life is Good gets a dream run to finish over the top.
Sir Winston will need some luck as he’ll likely get back and have to run two champions down. Trainer Mark Casse said his runner is in good spirits and deserves his chance.
“He needs a lot of things to go his way,” Casse said. “He’s feeling really well, and we believe he deserves a chance.”
