Knicks Go will have to escape rail post in Pegasus World Cup; Life Is Good draws stall 4

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Nine post positions were drawn early Tuesday afternoon at Gulfstream Park for Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. But the only two anybody really cared about were the posts assigned to defending champion Knicks Go and his chief rival Life Is Good, who drew posts 1 and 4, respectively, for the main event on an outstanding 12-race program that also includes the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf and $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Trainer Todd Pletcher was obviously very pleased with the way the draw turned out for his once-beaten Life Is Good.

“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.

“When you draw the rail, like Knicks Go did, it pretty much takes the guess work 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.”

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Irad Ortiz Jr. will retain the mount aboard Life Is Good for the Pegasus World Cup.

Knicks Go, who will be making the final start of his career in the mile and one-eighth Pegasus, has not broken from the rail in his last 11 starts dating back to a second-place finish going seven furlongs under allowance conditions at Keeneland in October of 2019. Knicks Go launched his 2021 campaign capturing last year’s renewal of the Pegasus by 2 3/4 lengths and ended it winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic by an identical margin nine months later.

Each of his eight wins since joining trainer Brad Cox’s barn having come in wire-to-wire fashion. Regular rider Joel Rosario will be aboard.

“Drawing the rail is all right, I’m more interested in how he comes out of there than where he’s coming from,” Cox said when asked his thoughts about Knicks Go drawing post 1. “We’re going to be aggressive leaving there, why wouldn’t we be. Whatever anyone else does is up to them.”

The remainder of the Pegasus lineup, from the inside out, consists of Chess Chief (Reylu Guttierez), Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux), Empty Tomb (Paco Lopez), Sir Winston (Edwin Gonzalez), Title Ready (Tyler Gaffalione), Endorsed (Umberto Rispoli), and Commandeer (Julien Leparoux).

Pletcher had mixed emotions when it came to the post-position draw for the mile and one-eighth Pegasus World Cup Turf. Colonel Liam was the first name out of the entry box, in post 6, while stablemate Never Surprised will break from the extreme outside in the field of 12.

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Colonel Liam rallied to a neck decision over another Pletcher trainee, Largent, in the 2021 Pegasus Turf and will likely be a tepid favorite to defend that title on Saturday. Never Surprised could prove his chief rival despite the unlucky post-position draw. He comes into the race off a pair of one-sided wire-to-wire stakes victories.

“Obviously we’re quite happy with the draw for Colonel Liam although it wasn’t very ideal for Never Surprised,” said Pletcher. “But he’s got plenty of natural speed and there’s a pretty good run to the first turn in one mile and one-eighth turf races here.”

The remainder of the competitive field for the Pegasus Turf, from the rail out, consists of Space Traveller, Atone, Flavius, March to the Arch, Hit the Road, Doswell, Sacred Life, Field Pass, Channel Cat, and Cross Border. Atone, Flavius, Field Pass, and Cross Border are all trained by Mike Maker.