BETTORS opted for Accelerate as the slight 3/2 favourite by post time of 5:42pm in Pegasus World Cup, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and newly crowned champion older male going off just below City Of Light at 9/5 and the only other single-digit choices, Audible and Gunnevera, co-third choices at 9/1.

City Of Light and Castellano broke well from post three in the field of 12 and Patternrecognition, the Grade 1 Cigar Mile winner looking to give Chad Brown and owners Seth Klarman and Bill Lawrence a Pegasus double after Bricks And Mortar won the Turf, gunned to the front from his extreme outside draw.

Patternrecognition and Jose Ortiz led through the opening splits of 0:23.23 and 0:46.84 with City Of Light cruising on their outside

City Of Light pulled Castellano to the front just outside the half-mile pole while Patternrecognition quickly relinquished the lead and dropped back through the field.

Castellano’s hands barely moved as they opened up, the chasers doing far more work than needed on this day and City Of Light cruised by six furlongs in 1m 10.80secs.

Joel Rosario and Accelerate made a brief run up the inside around the far turn but could never get close and turning for home it was over.

SERIOUS QUESTION

Castellano shook the reins several times, flashed his whip and never asked a serious question of City Of Light, who won by the biggest margin of his career since a seven-and-a-half-length maiden score in September 2017 at Del Mar.

“You don’t see too many horses that got speed, balance, dimensions,” Castellano said. “He did everything today. I enjoyed the ride to be honest with you. I give all the credit to Michael McCarthy for putting everything together for this race.”

William Warren, who thanked everyone from his parents to the U.S. Navy to Notre Dame after the race, went even further in his praise for McCarthy.

APPRENTICESHIP

Warren said a big reason he and his wife gave horses, including the $710,000 Keeneland September yearling City Of Light, to McCarthy was because of his longtime apprenticeship under Pletcher.

“He spent a lot of time with Todd and learned a lot,” Warren said. “He’s very much a detail man. He’s devoted to each of his horses. That means a lot to me. He’s not trying to get 150 or 200 horses.

“He wants to get horses he feels he can make champions and that’s what attracted me to him. I think he’s a man of great character. He makes good decisions, which I need because sometimes I have some pretty wild ideas.”

City Of Light, who will stand alongside Accelerate at Lane’s End when the breeding season opens next month, retires with a record of six wins, four seconds and a third from 11 starts and a bankroll of $5,662,600 thanks to the $4 million earned from the Pegasus.