Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park Odds & Betting Preview: Pneumatic Favored in Final Kentucky Derby Prep Race

• The Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park is the final qualifying race for September’s Kentucky Derby
• Pneumatic is the favorite Saturday on the Jersey Shore
• Recent history tells us an upset is possible, but who provides the most betting value?

While sports have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, for the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park, this is the second unusual year in a row.

The Pegasus tends to be a competitive solid event, though it is mostly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Not last year, when Maximum Security, who was disqualified after finishing first at the Kentucky Derby opted to run for the first time since his controversial two minutes in Louisville. It was even more newsworthy when he was upset by King for a Day, who hasn’t won since.

This year the race has been shifted from June to August and is serving as the final Kentucky Derby qualifying race. The Run for the Roses is just three weeks away, so for horses who still need points to get into the starting gate at Churchill Downs, this is the final opportunity.

Lightly raced Pneumatic, who has run pretty well in a couple of Derby preps, is the Pegasus favorite. Let’s examine his qualifications and several other contenders.

2020 Pegasus Stakes Odds

Odds taken August 13

The Pegasus Stakes is being run over a-mile-and-a-sixteenth on the main track. Post time is 5:12 pm EST.

The Favorite

Pneumatic didn’t debut until February and after winning his first two starts, both at Oaklawn Park, he went to Kentucky and finished a strong third in the loaded Matt Winn Stakes.

He backed up that performance by finishing fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Losing to Maxfield and Tiz The Law is no major crime, and there is little reason to believe the Steven Asmussen trained colt for Winchell Thoroughbreds won’t run well.

Top Contenders

Jesus’ Team needed five starts to break his maiden, but since winning for the first time in March has run well. He backed up his first win right away with another and then was the runner up in an allowance optional claiming event in June. His first trip outside of Florida came in last month’s Haskell Invitational, where he ran into Tiz The Law.

Finishing behind the Kentucky Derby favorite, along with Ny Traffic, and Dr Post, legitimate Triple Crown contenders isn’t that bad. There is no doubt Jesus’ Team has turned a corner since his early struggles.

As Seen On TV has not raced since running poorly in March’s Florida Derby. However, he won two of three races last year, was the runner up in his 2020 debut, a stakes race at Gulfstream Park, and returned to finish third in The Fountain of Youth Stakes.

There is little doubt The Pegasus is a hail mary to try and get As Seen On TV into the Kentucky Derby. That said, he seemed on his way last year, and if fully healthy and at 100 percent, has a shot for trainer Kelly Breen Saturday.

Longshots

Arkaan didn’t make his career debut until June 24, and beating an unheralded group at PARX Racing isn’t overly impressive, but burying any group is still strong. He returned to the track a month later and destroyed a small field at Delaware Park. His competition goes way way up today, but you can’t knock his two trips around the circuit.

Big City Bob seems to love Monmouth Park. He is two for two on the Jersey Shore, and zip for three elsewhere. That said, his third-place performance in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in October is solid, seeing as how Tiz The Law was the winner. His only race this year was a ho-hum performance in a stakes race at Laurel Park in March.

The Bet

Though the competition is decent, Pneumatic likely already has enough Kentucky Derby qualifying points to reach the starting gate in Louisville, and he very much feels like a deserving candidate in three weeks. Everyone else in here is a fringe candidate. Pneumatic has done little to criticize and this is a field he should be able to handle.

Pick: Pneumatic (+250)