Saturday’s richly endowed Pegasus World Cup Invitational races at Gulfstream Park, in Hallandale Beach, Florida, showcased winners at contrasting stages of their careers. Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr.’s City of Light romped in his swan song in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup (Grade 1) in the slop, while Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence’s Bricks and Mortar is just getting started after capturing the inaugural Turf (Grade 1) worth $6,708,329.

City of Light, last seen landing the November 3 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (Grade 1) at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, will now retire to stud at Lane’s End Farm, near Versailles, Kentucky. So has Pegasus rival Accelerate, the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) winner who was crowned champion older dirt male at Thursday night’s Eclipse Awards.

The pair had met twice before, each winning one, and the Pegasus served as their rubber match. Bettors sent Accelerate off as the 3-2 favorite as he tried to maintain the perfect record of Breeders’ Cup Classic winners in the Pegasus. Arrogate (2017) and Gun Runner (2018) both turned the Classic/Pegasus double, but Accelerate had to settle for third in his career finale.

City of Light, the 9-5 second choice, could have claimed the upper hand in wagering ahead of the 1 1/8-mile trip. But when Gulfstream came up sloppy, his lack of wet-track experience presented a question. As it turned out, he handled it swimmingly