HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.– The old paradox about what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object will come into play when the soon-to-be-named Horse of the Year Knicks Go takes on the sensational Life Is Good in Saturday’s $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. The Pegasus Cup is the finale on an outstanding 12-race program at Gulfstream Park that also includes the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf and the inaugural running of the $500,000 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. First post is 11:30 a.m., with NBC to broadcast live from 4:30-6:00 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the main event is slated for 5:34 p.m. Although the Pegasus World Cup drew a field of nine, most everybody is viewing the event as a match race between the two heavy favorites, who have combined to win 14 of their last 16 starts, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in dominant fashion in their 2021 finales. The fact Knicks Go and Life Is Good possess similar running styles, both having used their raw speed to run the competition off their feet while leading at every call in all 14 of those victories, makes Saturday’s much anticipated confrontation between the pair all the more compelling. Knicks Go is the more experienced and to this point more accomplished of the two heavyweights, with the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus to be the final race of an outstanding career where he could end up with earnings in excess of $10 million with a win on Saturday. Eight of his 10 lifetime victories have come since joining trainer Brad Cox’s barn during the winter of 2020, including a popular 2 3/4-length, wire-to-wire triumph in the 2021 Pegasus World Cup. :: Want the best bonus in racing? Get a $250 deposit match, $10 free bet, and free Formulator with DRF Bets. Code: WINNING “It’s obviously setting up as a good matchup, although I don’t know if I’d necessarily call this a match race. Maybe a little bit going into the first turn. I think a lot could depend on what goes on early,” Cox said. “But the two fastest horses in the race are exactly that – they both go to the front in their races, so we’ll just have to see how they do.” Knicks Go will break from the rail under regular rider Joel Rosario, while Life Is Good, Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, drew post position 4, which many feel might be to his advantage. The post positions, however, are of little concern to Cox. “I’m more interested in how he comes out of there, not where he comes from, and we’re going to be aggressive away from there. Why wouldn’t we be?” Cox said with a laugh. “Obviously there are a lot of very good horses in the field, but whatever anyone else does is up to them. All I know is our horse looks amazing, is training well, and that’s all I can do. “We’ve been a mile and one-quarter, that’s an advantage, and I think he likes this track a lot. His figure last year in this race was the same as he ran winning the [2020 Breeders’ Cup] Dirt Mile] the race before.” Cox said the feeling will be bittersweet when he leads Knicks Go over to race for the final time. “I hope he goes out a winner, that’s the whole point, but knock on wood as long as he comes out of the race happy and healthy, that’s my main concern,” said Cox. “Naturally I’d love to keep running him. He’s been great to us and owes us nothing. But he’s 6 and we need to get him in the stallion barn. It’s his time.” In six starts, Life Is Good is a neck shy of being perfect, the margin he lost to Jackie’s Warrior by in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens this summer at Saratoga. But he bounced out of that defeat with scintillating victories in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap and the Dirt Mile, and all signs point to even greater glory in 2022. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “We’re really excited about the way he’s coming into the race and having the opportunity to take on a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “This will be his first time going a mile and one-eighth, but watching him train in the morning, it should be well within his capabilities. I don’t see any [distance] limitations.” Strategy-wise, it doesn’t appear that Life Is Good will concede anything from a pace standpoint to his chief rival. “Our horse has natural speed, it’s his weapon, and we’re not looking to take that away from him,” Pletcher said. “And the Knicks Go team knows what works for their horse. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.” The seven other members of the field are likely developing a Rodney Dangerfield complex, getting little respect, either from handicappers or the media, coming into the race. The potential for a torrid pace duel between the two favorites is perhaps the only chance any of them have of orchestrating what would be considered a major upset. Stilleto Boy and Chess Chief have already been soundly defeated by Knicks Go, beaten double-digit lengths when finishing fifth last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Lukas Classic, respectively. Chess Chief is the only member of the field, aside from Knicks Go, with a win at 1 1/8 miles on their résumé. Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner, has been rejuvenated racing over the synthetic surface at Woodbine, posting two wins and two seconds, including a Grade 3 victory, in his last four starts, but remains winless on dirt since the summer of 2020.