The biggest North American race of the year until the Kentucky Derby is a match race dressed up as a nine-horse field. It’s tough settling on a Pegasus World Cup Invitational preference, so I won’t. Having just gotten back from New Orleans where I was fortunate enough to watch Knicks Go train, I can report that at age 6, with a long 2021 campaign behind him, the horse blooms with vitality. Since Brad Cox took over training, Knicks Go is 8 for 8 in two-turn races (four Grade 1’s, two Breeders’ Cup starts) with a 40-length combined margin of victory. It’s hard to see him succumbing to anyone in a nine-furlong Gulfstream Park contest, but my stars, those recent works from Life Is Good blow you away, and his Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile as good as Knicks Go’s the year before. He’s got younger legs but cedes seasoning and is untested beyond 1 1/16 miles. This is one to watch for me, with plenty of better betting opportunities before the Gulfstream feature. Pegasus World Cup Turf Colonel Liam, based on available video, hasn’t worked as impressively as Life Is Good (who could?) but has trained with vigor and verve this winter. Still, this is a big ask, returning from nearly an eight-month layoff in a million-dollar race, and Colonel Liam’s imposing, heavy frame is not the sort to be rapidly honed following a long layoff. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play like a pro with free Formulator, DRF's premium data product He can beat me and so can his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Never Surprised, a mere 7-2 on the morning line while facing older horses for the first time and getting no weight. Never Surprised clearly seems the speed of the race but will have to come out running from post 12, a potentially compromising scenario for a horse who struggles to settle and relax. Hit the Road possesses requisite quality to contend, might well have been best in his last start, and tracing to the second dam (his was unraced) you’ll find a dose of stamina to help him through these nine furlongs. But Hit the Road is more naturally a miler and performed poorly the one time he shipped; there are too many concerns. I looked long at Atone, 20-1 on the line and steadily improving since trainer Mike Maker took over last summer. He had a wide draw in the Fort Lauderdale and lost a lot of ground on the second turn, finishing with interest trying nine furlongs for the first time. The selection is Space Traveller, a horse good enough to have defeated BC Mile winner Space Blues earlier in his career. He finished two places behind Atone in the Fort Lauderdale but there’s reasons to expect more. Post 12 forced Space Traveller to be used early, the wrong trip for a horse historically best at a mile or thereabouts who needs to settle and make one run to succeed at this distance. Thus, the presence of English jockey Jamie Spencer, who surely gives him that hold-up trip. A slow pace hurt Space Traveller in Grade 1’s at Arlington and Woodbine, and he’s getting a better setup here while racing for the first time in blinkers, which he wore in all his works – a visually taking set – since his last race. Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Maybe morning-line favorite Regal Glory simply proves too good for this bunch – but I doubt it. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures I quite like Nicest to win this race, presumably at a fair price, possibly not as high as the 6-1 morning line. There’s clearly some excellent overseas form lines here, running through the Ribblesdale and the Irish Oaks, and in the filly’s North American debut, she had a compromising spot of homestretch trouble. Her Red Carpet Stakes, her first start for trainer Michael McCarthy, held promise, and Nicest ran surprisingly well when left in the off-turf American Oaks. Having watched all this filly’s races, I think there’s a great chance she benefits from a cut back in distance. She appears to have worked well into this, has room to improve, and should be very competitive. Southwest The presence of SoCal shipper Newgrange should ensure a fair win price on all the plausible players here, and among them, I’ll side with Ben Diesel. Surely this colt can be forgiven his last-start defeat breaking from post 13 on a sloppy track, and he ran best among the pace players in the Kentucky Jockey Club. Sharp interim works encourage, and Ben Diesel showed in his debut he doesn’t need the lead to win.