The first major racing event of 2023 brings together a group of older runners hoping to fill a void by retired stars of last year, while another aims to earn a hefty paycheck in his finale.

The Pegasus offers an early look into how the older dirt male division will shape up in 2023. All three 2022 Eclipse Award finalists for that category – Flightline, Life Is Good and Olympiad – have been retired, as has last year’s 3-year-old champ Epicenter.

Cyberknife will soon join that group. The Pegasus will be the career finale for the 4-year-old Gun Runner colt before he begins stud duty at Spendthrift Farm.

In 2022, Cyberknife earned Grade 1 wins in Oaklawn’s Arkansas Derby and Monmouth Park’s Haskell Stakes. His most recent run was a second-place effort Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Brad Cox, trainer of 2021 Pegasus winner Knicks Go, conditions Cyberknife for owner Gold Square. Jockey Florent Geroux will be aboard for the colt’s career finale.

Of the runners expected to race beyond Saturday, Proxy (9-2) carries the lowest odds. Trained by Michael Stidham, he earned a breakthrough victory Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs in the Clark Stakes (G1).

Skippylongstocking (5-1) leads a trio of Pegasus starters for locally based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The 2022 Belmont Stakes third-place runner prepped for this race by winning the local Harlan’s Holiday Stakes (G3) on New Year’s Eve.

Grade 1 winner Defunded (6-1) ships east for trainer Bob Baffert off a Native Diver Stakes (G3) win Nov. 27 at Del Mar.

White Abarrio (10-1), third Dec. 3 in Aqueduct’s Cigar Mile Handicap (G1), returns to the track where he won the Florida Derby (G1) last April for Joseph.

Another Grade 1 winner in the field is the Bill Mott-trained Art Collector (10-1). He makes his first start since crossing fifth Oct. 1 at Churchill in the Lukas Classic Stakes (G2).

Here is a look at the field for the 2023 Pegasus World Cup (trainers and jockeys in parentheses) with morning-line odds:

Reinier Macatangay finds Cyberknife’s outside post in the Pegasus World Cup troublesome and notes that . He says that if the 2022 Florida Derby (G1) hero can start at 7-1 or higher, then the value is there.

Macatangay also analyzes Pegasus pace scenarios, writing that discourage them.

The biggest races of the New Year so far have prompted , as Horse Racing Nation's premier handicapping product predicts big balloons on Pegasus World Cup day Saturday at Gulfstream Park to kickoff big savings now through the Kentucky Derby prep season.

Here is a look at some of the other graded-stakes races scheduled for Saturday across the U.S. Click here for .

Adventuring (7-5), winner of Kentucky Downs’ Ladies Marathon Stakes (G3) in September, seeks a second Grade 3 win for trainer Brad Cox. Jockey Joel Rosario gets the call on the 5-year-old Pioneerof the Nile mare, third-place runner Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs in the Cardinal Stakes (G3). Shug McGaughey trains Personal Best (7-2), who aims for a first stakes win after running third Dec. 26 in the local Tropical Park Oaks. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Transient (4-1) finished third Nov. 12 at Woodbine in the Maple Leaf Stakes (G3).

Obligatory (7-5), a Grade 1 winner for trainer Bill Mott, starts her 5-year-old season. Jockey Jose Ortiz will pilot the Curlin filly, last seen running fifth Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Joseph Catanese III trains Maryquitecontrary (5-1), whose four-race winning streak includes a local Rampart Stakes victory New Year’s Eve. Famed (5-1) has won back-to-back races for Cox, including the She’s All In Stakes on Dec. 17 at Remington Park.

Channel Maker (3-1), the 2020 champion turf male, makes career start No. 50 in his first race since finishing seventh Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Mott and jockey Tyler Gaffalione team up with the 9-year-old English Channel gelding, a four-time Grade 1 hero. Mike Maker trains Temple (9-2), a Grade 2 winner who aims to bounce back off a 10th-place effort Nov. 26 in Aqueduct’s Red Smith Stakes (G2). Red Knight (9-2), another Maker-trained Grade 2 winner, ran 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Pirate Rick (3-1) has won four races in a row over the last two months and wheels back six days after a local allowance victory at six furlongs Sunday. Jockey Jose Antonio Gomez will get a leg up on the 6-year-old Liam’s Map gelding for trainer Norman Cash. Juan Avila trains Little Vic (7-2), a Laurel Park stakes victor who was second Dec. 30 in the local Gravesend Stakes. 2022 Toboggan Stakes winner Drafted (4-1) attempts to win the race a second straight year for trainer David Duggan.

Miles D (3-1) makes his first start in more than 11 months, when he was the third-place runner Feb. 19 in Fair Grounds’ Mineshaft Stakes (G3). Rosario will pilot the 5-year-old son of Curlin for trainer Chad Brown. Maker trains 2022 Pegasus fourth-place finisher Endorsed (5-1), winner of a local allowance race Dec. 22. Mish (6-1) was third against allowance foes going 1 1/16 miles locally Dec. 8 for Joseph.

Shantisara (9-5), a Grade 1 winner for Brown, returned from a layoff of nearly seven months to run fifth Nov. 5 at Keeneland on the Breeders’ Cup undercard in the Fall Harvest Stakes. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard the 5-year-old Coulsty mare. Al Stall Jr. trains fellow Grade 1 heroine Dalika (5-2), last-out winner of Churchill's Cardinal Stakes. Queen Goddess (9-2), yet another Grade 1 winner, ships east for trainer Michael McCarthy after winning the Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3) on New Year’s Eve at Santa Anita.

Ivar (5-2) aims for the second North American Grade 1 win of his career as morning-line favorite for trainer Paulo Lobo. Jockey Javier Castellano has been tabbed to ride the 7-year-old son of Agnes Gold in his first start since a fourth-place run Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Christophe Clement trains City Man (4-1), who prepped for this spot by winning the local Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2) on New Year’s Eve by 1 1/2 lengths over stablemate and fellow Pegasus Turf starter Decorated Invader. Grade 1 victor Lady Speightspeare (6-1), third-place runner Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, battles male runners in this spot for trainer Roger Attfield.

Pauline’s Pearl (9-5) returns off a layoff for trainer Steve Asmussen that dates to a third-place finish July 2 at Churchill Downs in the Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2). Jockey Stewart Elliott will get a leg up on the 5-year-old Tapit mare, a Grade 1 winner who also took this event last year. Tom Amoss trains Sixtythreecaliber (3-1), winner of the Comely Stakes (G3) on Nov. 25 at Aqueduct. She Can’t Sing (7-2) also exits a Grade 3 victory, hers coming Nov. 19 in Churchill’s Chilukki Stakes for trainer Chris Block.

Spooky Channel (5-2), victor of this race in 2021, returned Dec. 26 for his first start in more than 14 months, winning Fair Grounds’ Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes. Jockey James Graham will ride the 8-year-old English Channel gelding, who is trained by Jason Barkley. Maker trains Bemma’s Boy (7-2), a Grade 2 winner who was fourth New Year’s Day at Gulfstream in an allowance race, his first start in more than eight months. 2022 Connally Turf Cup hero Another Mystery (9-2) finished sixth Dec. 17 at Gulfstream in the H. Allen Jerkens Handicap for Block.

Hopper (5-2) returns to the starting gates for the first time since winning the local Affirmed Stakes (G3) on June 11 in his third career start. Jockey Edwin Maldonado will be up on the 4-year-old Declaration of War colt for trainer Bob Baffert. Phil D’Amato trains Newgrange (3-1), a Grade 3 winner and former Baffert-trained runner who was third Nov. 27 in Del Mar’s Native Diver Stakes (G3). 2021 Pacific Classic (G1) hero Tripoli finished fourth Nov. 22 in the Zia Park Championship Stakes for trainer John Sadler.