Gulfstream: Knicks Go Wins Pegasus Stakes; Mandatory Payout on Sunday Rainbow 6

Knicks Go won Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Grade 1)

There is a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 jackpot--regardless of the number of tickets with all six winners. It begins on the sixth race, with scheduled post of 2:38 p.m.

Here are capsules of those stories and others we are covering today at Gulfstream Park:

Knicks Go Wins Pegasus

Knicks Go (4), the 6-5 favorite, jumped out to an early lead and was never headed as he won the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Grade 1) on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Jesus' Team (5), at 11-1, rallied down the stretch and finished second--2 3/4 lengths behind Knicks Go in the 1 1/8 mile dirt stakes for 4-year-olds and up. 

The 13-1 shot Independence Hall (3) finished third, a neck behind Jesus' Tram in the 12-horse field.

With Joel Rosario riding, the Maryland-bred Knicks Go won in 1:47.89 on the track listed as Fast.

Brad Cox trains Knicks Go, a 5-year-old non-gelded son of Paynter, for the Korea Racing Authority.

Mandatory Payout on Rainbow 6

Gulfstream will have eleven races on Sunday, with first post of 12:05 p.m.

The Rainbow 6, with the mandatory payout, will be on races six to eleven with the sequence scheduled to begin at 2:38 p.m.

The carryover is $266,567 on the 20 cents per combination-only bet.  We expect that about $2 million will be bet on the Rainbow 6.

On-Site Spectators, Handle

On Saturday, Gulfstream allowed spectators on-site for the first time since last March 15.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, Gulfstream capped attendance at 1,500--all in restaurant areas. Attendees were required to wear masks, and Gulfstream had social distancing and sanitization protocols.

Total handle for Sunday's twelve races was $40,786,712. That was 2.6 percent lower than total  handle $41,896,453 for twelve races on last year's Pegasus day (Jan. 25) when attendance was about 15,000. Breakdowns on sources of handle are not readily available.

Over the past year, increases in Advance Deposit Wagering have made up for the absence of live handle at Gulfstream. 

HorseRacingFLA's review of Equibase charts shows that handle on races at Gulfstream's current championship races is keeping pace with last season.

Through last Sunday Jan. 17 Gulfstream had daily average total handle of $9.63 million.  The daily average was $9.76 million for the same period in the 2019-2020 meet.