Fresh off of hitting the exacta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Michelle Yu offers her best bets for the Pegasus World Cup 2025 at Gulfstream Park
Fresh off of hitting the exacta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Michelle Yu offers her best bets for the Pegasus World Cup 2025 at Gulfstream Park
The 2025 Pegasus World Cup Invitational takes place on Saturday at Gulfstream Park outside of Miami. Reigning Kentucky Derby champion Mystik Dan returns to the track and is looking for his first victory since last year’s Run for the Roses. The Kenneth McPeek-trained horse followed up that surprise win with a second-place finish at the Preakness, but finished sixth and eighth in his following two starts. Nevertheless, Mystik Dan is 8-1 in the 2025 Pegasus World Cup odds. The Pegasus World Cup 2025 post time is 5:40 p.m. ET. The Todd Pletcher-trained thoroughbred Locked is the 5-2 money line favorite among the 2025 Pegasus World Cup horses. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner White Abarrio is 3-1. With several of the country’s best dirt horses set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you’ll want to see what racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2025 Pegasus World Cup picks.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders’ Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
Last year, Yu correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, predicted Stronghold’s upset win in the Santa Anita Derby and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap. On the Belmont Stakes undercard, she nailed National Treasure’s win in the Met Mile, and had the winner and exacta in the Woody Stephens Stakes. She closed out the year by hitting the exacta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Now, Yu has handicapped the 2025 Pegasus World Cup lineup, made her picks and constructed her best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2025 Pegasus World Cup predictions
One surprise: Yu is fading Locked, even though he is the 5-2 favorite in the Pegasus World Cup odds. Locked is the son of Steve Asmussen-trained horse Gun Runner, who went on a five-race winning streak that included the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2018 Pegasus World Cup. The four-year-old colt has impressed in his young career, winning four of his first six starts including victory at the 2024 Cigar Mile (Gr. 2) in December.
Yu notes, however, that while Locked impressed in a solid field of middle-distance runners at Aqueduct, he could lose steam on the 1 1/8-mile track at the Gulfstream. “Since he has run very few times, I can see the upside, but he will have to overcome a bad post position,” Yu told SportsLine. You can see all of Yu’s 2025 Pegasus World Cup bets here.
How to make 2025 Pegasus World Cup picks
Instead, Yu is high on a double-digit longshot who is “getting a chance to play with the big boys.” She is including this horse in her 2025 Pegasus World Cup bets, and so should you. She is including this horses in her 2025 Pegasus World Cup bets, and so should you. She’s sharing which horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2025 Pegasus World Cup Invitational? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Yu’s picks for the Pegasus World Cup 2025, all from the Santa Anita-based racing insider who nailed last year’s Pegasus World Cup winner, and find out.
2025 Pegasus World Cup odds, contenders
| Prg # | Horse | Odds | Projections |
| 1 | Mixto | 10-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 2 | Saudi Crown | 9-2 | SEE PICKS |
| 3 | Newgrange | 20-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 4 | White Abarrio | 3-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 5 | Crupi | 15-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 6 | Stronghold | 10-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 7 | Steal Sunshine | 30-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 8 | Vitality | 50-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 9 | Mystik Dan | 8-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 10 | Skippylongstocking | 10-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 11 | Locked | 5-2 | SEE PICKS |
| 12 | Power Squeeze | 30-1 | SEE PICKS |