Pegasus World Cup (Grade 1)- $3,000.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
January 24, 2026
Some of the biggest names in virtual racing would make their way to the starting gate for this year’s Pegasus World Cup. In this loaded field, neither myself or Stu saw 23/1 longshot All Take as being the best of the field, but it would be the Alydar Stables gelding taking home the win. Stu was closer to picking him than I was, mentioning him as a potential winner at a big price, where he was lost in the shuffle with me due to the overall strength of the field. His win gives Alydar Stables his first win in the prestigious Pegasus World Cup, and that also holds true for jockey E J Zayas. Congratulations to them! This seven year old gelding will certainly be one to watch this year as well, and perhaps he will run as strongly to begin this year as he did in 2025. The time of the race was 1:47.26, the sixth quickest in the race’s history. If you want to take away the Donn Handicap times when lower weights were seen, it’d be the third quickest time. Here’s a look at it!
(½ Mile- :46.55)- Two horses break sharply from positions on the outside, as both TwinTowersRacing’s Eight West Party, and Mb Stables’ Extreme Jet clear the rest of the field in time for the turn and battle it for the early advantage. After half a mile, that will go to Extreme Jet by a neck. Stalking the frontrunners is another out of TwinTowersRacing, Without Warning, and he’ll take the lane behind his stablemate. Our pick to win, The Sidley Stud’s Berlin is fourth while on the outside, a length in front of a group of four right behind him. No Real Drama, trained by Asgar, has the upper hand here by half a length over two Mb Stables runners, Star Vault and Charlie Jace, who run evenly while General Zod is on the outside for Royalty Stables. Fawkes leads the next group for Delta Farms, while having the race’s eventual winner, All Take, to his inside. The Alydar Stables gelding is officially scored as five lengths from the lead at this point. Heart Of Genghis (Night Rider Stables) runs with them, then it’s a length to Doc Rivers (D J C Racing Stables) and Quiet Return (John Henry). Trailing is Fried Chicken (Angelos Stable).
(3/4 Mile- 1:10.56)- Early into the turn, Extreme Jet remains out front, and he has been able to get clear of Eight West Party by a length. Without Warning continues to run in the third spot by himself and seems positioned well at this point to take a run at Extreme Jet if he wanted. It gets congested behind him as seven horses run within a length of one another. Towards the inside, both No Real Drama and Star Vault appear to be positioned to remain out of any trouble, and towards the outside, Berlin and Charlie Jace also have no one directly in front of them. Both Fawkes and All Take are hoping an opening that is presently there in the third and fourth lanes will continue to stay there and they’ll look to take advantage of it. General Zod follows Berlin while Heart Of Genghis looks for his best lane. Doc Rivers and Quiet Return are behind this pack of horses, while Fried Chicken can see them all.
(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Around the turn and into the stretch, the KYD and BEL winner continues to run gamely and look to take this lead all the way to the end. Extreme Jet holds that length and a half margin on the TwinTowers pair of Eight West Party and Without Warning as we look to see who any new challengers may be. Within the pack, No Real Drama, who kept Extreme Jet from winning the TC was looking like he had plenty left to take this win from him as well, and to his outside, All Take wanted to take the victory from them all. He was within three, and these two were certainly seeming like the most likely candidates to make a late bid. Star Vault was running into traffic trouble, while the outside trips of Fawkes, Charlie Jace, and Berlin were all starting to take their toll. Heart Of Genghis continued to look for his best lane, and General Zod did not have much running room, either. Doc Rivers and Quiet Return had not shown much, and all Fried Chicken had done was to catch up to those two.
(Finish- 1:47.26)- Knowing all that Extreme Jet has done in his career, he looked like he was on his way to a win with a furlong to go. However, on the far outside, All Take was refusing to concede the race to him, gradually reeling him in as we got closer to the wire. No Real Drama was also running well, but given that he had been passed by All Take, it didn’t seem like it was going to be his day. The persistence of All Take would pay off, showing plenty of heart as he completes the pass of Extreme Jet and goes on to win by half a length over No Real Drama, who got the head bob for place over Extreme Jet. Without Warning hung tough to be fourth, and it’s a length to Fawkes and Star Vault. The rest of the running order will read Heart Of Genghis, Fried Chicken, Charlie Jace, Quiet Return, General Zod, Eight West Party, Doc Rivers, and a very disappointing Berlin.
About The Winner- All Take, trained by Alydar Stables and ridden to victory by E J Zayas, is a seven year old gelding by Niagra and is out of Takethemoneyandrun. He was bred in British Columbia by Team 7 Illusions as a second quarter two year old, and was acquired by Alydar Stables from Fractious, for $250.000 in a February 2022 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his twelfth in 43 starts, his 11th stake win and eighth graded win. His career earnings are now $5,121.160.
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES