Two of the most famous trainers in modern-day horse racing will face off in the 2025 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, which gets underway at Gulfstream Park outside of Miami on Saturday at 5:40 p.m. ET. The race is one of the most lucrative in North America, and both Brad Cox and Todd Pletcher have thoroughbreds in the 12-horse 2025 Pegasus World Cup field aiming for the $3 million purse. Cox, who won the Pegasus World Cup in with Knicks Go in 2021, will put his faith in Saudi Crown, the four-year-old son of 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. Meanwhile, 2022 winner Pletcher hopes Locked or Crupi finishes first among the 2025 Pegasus World Cup horses.

Locked is the 5-2 money line favorite in the 2025 Pegasus World Cup odds, followed by White Abarrio at 3-1, Saudi Crown at 9-2 and 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan at 8-1. 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. The four-year-old son of Gun Runner has impressed early in his career, winning four of his six starts. Yu notes, however, that his victory at the Cigar Mile was against a field accustom to running medium distances. Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile run will pose a new challenge.

“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