HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – What’s that saying, make plans, and God laughs? The plan for January 2020 for Mucho Gusto did not initially include the $3 million Pegasus World Cup. It had, however, long been circled for Omaha Beach and Spun to Run. Yet by the time the race was run on Saturday, Omaha Beach and Spun to Run were out, Spun to Run’s rider had presciently defected to Mucho Gusto, and Mucho Gusto – who was put in the race at the 11th hour owing to trainer Bob Baffert again trusting his instincts – made off with the rich race on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Baffert’s prayers were answered. “That little horse showed up today,” Baffert said from his home in Southern California, where he remained while entrusting long-time assistant Jimmy Barnes to handle chores here. “When I decided to go, I was just hoping he’d get a piece of it. I didn’t know it would develop the way it did. No one has a crystal ball.” Mucho Gusto ($8.80), the second choice, put away his competition nearing the top of the lane and bounded home 4 1/2 lengths in front of runner-up Mr Freeze, who set most of the pace and held second by three-quarters of a length over late-running War Story. Diamond Oops was fourth and was followed, in order, by Bodexpress, Tenfold, Seeking the Soul, True Timber, Tax, and Higher Power. Mucho Gusto completed 1 1/8 miles on the fast main track in 1:48.85. The win was the second Pegasus in its four runnings for Baffert, who won the inaugural in 2017 with Arrogate. This time, though, both the Pegasus and the Pegasus Turf – held for the first time last year – were run under rules that did not allow the use of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix. Mucho Gusto had not run since finishing fourth in the Oklahoma Derby, a race that was below the form he had shown in his two prior starts, a third in the Travers and a second in the Haskell, races won by high-class 3-year-olds Code of Honor and Maximum Security, respectively. “That little freshening really helped,” Baffert said. “He looked so good.” The decision to run in the Pegasus came together following a series of sharp recent workouts at Santa Anita. Once Baffert decided to go, Steve Rushing, the agent for Irad Ortiz Jr., secured the mount, which at the time seemed curious, as Ortiz had won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Spun to Run, beating Omaha Beach. But on Thursday morning, Spun to Run was withdrawn from the Pegasus World Cup Dirt owing to skin disease, which trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero said he had been battling for two weeks. And then later Thursday, Omaha Beach – the morning-line favorite for the Pegasus – was scratched owing to X-rays that trainer Richard Mandella said showed could be the beginning of a fracture in his right hind ankle. That stars were aligning for Mucho Gusto. With a glorious opportunity to win the race, Baffert did not leave anything else to chance. He instructed Ortiz to “warm him up well,” and when the gates opened, Mucho Gusto flew out of there and initially led his nine rivals. As the field went around the first turn, Ortiz allowed Mr Freeze – who had ranged up outside him on that bend – to move to the fore, and Mucho Gusto wound up settling into fourth down the backstretch, behind Mr. Freeze and Bodexpress, with Higher Power to his inside. As the field neared the top of the stretch, Ortiz led Mucho Gusto go, and the response was immediate. “When he swung out at the quarter, I thought, ‘Why didn’t I go?’” Baffert said. Mucho Gusto opened a commanding lead in upper stretch and was never threatened the rest of the way. “He was going very good the whole way,” said Ortiz, who on Thursday was named the Eclipse Award-winning jockey for the second straight year. “He just took off going to the quarter.” The biggest disappointment was Higher Power, who won the Pacific Classic last summer at Del Mar and most recently was third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He too had trained strongly at Santa Anita prior to coming here, and went off favored Saturday at 5-2, but he clearly was not himself on Saturday. He never had raced without Lasix. “I thought I was in a good spot. Mucho Gusto was inside me; I thought he was the horse to beat,” said his rider, Flavien Prat. “As soon as we got to the half, I was done. Instead of picking up the bit like he did in the Pacific Classic, he just dropped it.” Had Mucho Gusto not come to this race, he was going to run next Saturday in the San Pasqual at Santa Anita, and Prat was going to ride him. Prat, in fact, was aboard Mucho Gusto for the final work that convinced Baffert to run here, a six-furlong drill from the gate on Jan. 16 at Santa Anita in 1:11.60. Mucho Gusto, 4, is a colt by Mucho Macho Man who has now won six times in 11 starts. He made his first 10 starts for owner Michael Lund Petersen, but was sold privately since his prior start to Prince Faisal bin Khaled of Saudi Arabia. He earned $1.8 million on Saturday, dwarfing the $779,800 he had made in his first 10 starts combined. Baffert said Mucho Gusto is intended for the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup next month. He also has Whitney winner McKinzie for that race. McKinzie previously had been invited, but not Mucho Gusto. “I think he’ll get an invite now,” Baffert said.