Gulfstream Park welcomes back limited fans
1,800 spectators will be allowed to attend Pegasus World Cup
There will be fewer fans — but at least there will be some — and less-celebrated horses, but Gulfstream Park’s Pegasus World Cup still highlights the South Florida sports landscape in January.
Fans will be allowed at Gulfstream Park on Saturday for the first time in nearly a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will be costly to attend. The Hallandale Beach track will allow 1,800 spectators this year, about one-sixth of the normal attendance, for the Pegasus. Prices start at $100 with the top tariff at more than $1,000. At those prices, social distancing shouldn’t be a problem. NBC will have a Pegasus telecast starting at 4:30 p.m. Post time for the feature race is around 5:45 p.m.
The Pegasus has a rich history of luring equine superstars, such as Arrogate, California Chrome and Gun Runner. Saturday’s fifth running of what is now a $3 million race doesn’t appear to boast this caliber of star power. However, this assessment soon could be upgraded thanks to the late developing Knicks Go. If he picks up this year where he was at the end of 2020, capped by a devastating tour de force in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, there is seemingly no limit on what he might accomplish.
Knicks Go showed exceptional ability early. As a 2-year-old he won the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. That form disappeared in his 3-year-old season. He was on a 10-race losing streak when his owners decided to change trainers to Brad Cox early last year.
Under Cox, an Eclipse finalist as 2020 soutstandingtrainer,Knicks Go has become a world-beater. He took a pair of allowance races by almost 18 lengths. Then, in the Breeders Cup, he ran his opposition off their feet, going straight to the front and cruising home without being seriously challenged.