There will be plenty of music at Gulfstream Park Jan. 24 on a typically festive Pegasus World Cup day.
The DJs in the hospitality areas probably will be playing lots of pop and hip-hop.
But on the racetrack, it could be Disco Time.
No, KC and the Sunshine Band will not be appearing.
Instead, in the featured $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), the favorite is an undefeated 4-year-old with a 5-for-5 record who will be appearing in a grade 1 for the first time.
Meet Disco Time.
In a career that saw him miss both the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup, Juddmonte's homebred son of Not This Time will try to make up for lost time as the 8-5 favorite over 11 rivals in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus.
"We're hoping for a good trip and excited about the opportunity with him," said trainer Brad Cox, whose horse will break from post 1 with Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat. "His races have given us a lot of reason to be excited and it's given us the confidence to try this race."
Trying to remember Disco Time's lone appearance in a graded stakes could tax the memory banks. It was back on Jan. 18, 2025, when the speedy son of the Jump Start mare Disco Chick got off to an uncharacteristic slow start in the Lecomte Stakes (G3) and rallied from 10th to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) prep by a neck in his third career start and become a top Triple Crown contender.
But after that, things went wrong.
"A year ago, we were hoping we would start nicely on the Kentucky Derby trail. But he came out of the Lecomte with some issues that we thought were minor but after giving him a short period of time off, he just wasn't right so we knew he'd be off the Triple Crown trail," said Garrett O'Rourke, manager of Juddmonte Farm USA.
The focus then turned to the Breeders' Cup, but ...
"When Derby dreams are gone you start thinking about the Breeders' Cup. But when we brought him back, he took a while to get back in full rhythm. Again nothing major, but it ended Breeders' Cup thoughts," O'Rourke said.
Disco Time returned with a 5 1/2-length score in the St. Louis Derby Sept. 19 followed by a 9 3/4-length romp in the Dwyer Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack, both of which registered impressive speed figures.
That turned the attention to the Saudi Cup (G1), but (there's that word again) his international rating was not high enough to merit an invite to the $20 million race in February.
"So that's where we are now," O'Rourke said. "Maybe sometimes things happen for a reason."
The Pegasus is a rather lucrative Plan B and it should answer some pertinent questions about whether Disco Time can extend his winning streak while meeting grade 1 company for the first time and traveling as long as 1 1/8 miles for initial time in his career.
"We'll find out if he's the horse we think he is," O'Rourke said.
Since the beginning of his career and throughout the stops and starts, his connections have never lost faith in Disco Time.
"There's a lot of talent there. He trains the part," Cox said. "He's like a lot of the good ones. He gives you that good work you look for each week. The good ones are the ones that are consistent in the morning and afternoon. Since he's come back, he's matured like he was meant to."
What happens in the Pegasus figures to go a long way toward deciding whether the connections exit Gulfstream Park with a big-time case of Saturday Night Fever about major grade 1 stakes for the undefeated colt. A win could put the Dubai World Cup (G1) or Metropolitan Handicap (G1) in play. Or, if he struggles, lower-hanging fruit will be on the menu.
Either way, it's finally time for the dark bay or brown colt to take the dance floor on one of the sport's biggest stages.
"He's a good training horse in the morning. He's an honest horse who gives you his all. I think he'll be ready for the race," O'Rourke said. "He's still unbeaten and hopefully he can get in a nice rhythm, and we'll find out if he's capable of producing what he has been teasing us with."
Madaket Road out of Pegasus, Lightning Tones in
The Bob Baffert-trained Madaket Road has been scratched from the Pegasus after drawing post 6, moving horses who drew outside of him one post closer to the rail.
The defection will allow Lightning Tones to run and break from post 12.
A son of Tonalist owned by JC Racing Stable and trained by Jose Castro, the 6-year-old gelding exits a Jan. 10 second-straight win at Gulfstream Park in the Sunshine Classic Stakes for Florida-breds.
The grade 2-placed veteran campaigner, who was on the also-eligible list, has raced over Gulfstream's main track 30 times with seven wins, seven seconds, and six thirds.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, January 24, 2026, Race 13Entries: Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Disco Time (KY) Flavien Prat 123 Brad H. Cox 8/5 2 2British Isles (KY) Diego A. Herrera 123 David Fawkes 20/1 3 3Full Serrano (ARG) Joel Rosario 123 John W. Sadler 12/1 4 4Banishing (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 123 David Jacobson 20/1 5 5Skippylongstocking (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 15/1 6 6Madaket Road (KY) Mike E. Smith 123 Bob Baffert 10/1 7 7Tappan Street (KY) Luis Saez 123 Brad H. Cox 6/1 8 8Poster (KY) Junior Alvarado 123 Eoin G. Harty 20/1 9 9Captain Cook (KY) John R. Velazquez 123 Todd A. Pletcher 15/1 10 10Mika (KY) Manuel Franco 123 Michael J. Maker 10/1 11 11White Abarrio (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 4/1 12 12Brotha Keny (KY) Javier Castellano 123 Jose Francisco D'Angelo 30/1 13 13Lightning Tones (FL) Jose E. Morelos 123 Jose M. Castro 30/1 14 14Catalytic (KY) David Egan 123 Antonio Sano 50/1
