Including trainer Todd Pletcher, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr
Life Is Good beat Knicks Go and seven other rivals Saturday in gate-to-wire fashion to win the Grade 1, US$3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. See what winning trainer Todd Pletcher, winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and other connections said about the race at Gulfstream Park.
TRAINER QUOTES
Todd Pletcher (Life Is Good, 1st): “We were committed to letting him run his race. You know Knicks Go is a fast horse. We didn’t know for sure how it was going to play out. There was the potential for a speed duel there. He broke and I didn’t think his first step was great, but he recovered pretty quickly and got the turn in good shape. Knicks Go maybe didn’t bounce away as quick as he does sometimes so we kind of had the advantage at that point.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble with any other owners I have trained for, (but) I can’t think of one that is better than him. What makes him so special is his ability to run fast, the high cruising speed and [then] keep going. He’s just got tremendous mechanics. Just a phenomenal talent.”
Brad Cox (Knicks Go, 2nd): “It looked like he broke alright and then kind of got outrun a little bit. I don’t know, that horse, the winner, he ran off the TV screen. The plan was definitely to go. I wanted to; we just got outrun. I talked to Joel and he said he handled the track fine. He said a couple on his outside were moving along pretty good and it kind of got a little tight [early] so he took him back off of it a little bit and obviously the winner was just galloping on the lead.”
“He’s been super good to us. We’re proud of him and we’re happy and excited that he’s retiring sound and healthy and I look forward to training some of his babies in a couple of years. He’s 6; it’s time for him to go off to stud. Hopefully he’ll pass on his heart and determination and be a good sire.”
Mike Maker (Endorsed, 4th): “I thought Endorsed ran super. I’m happy with him. It was a good show by the top two, as expected. No complaints.”
Mark Casse (Sir Winston, 5th): “He needs a mile and a half. He thought he was just getting going. We knew it was a tall task, but he ran well. The winner is unbelievable. I’m proud of our horse. We’ll look for a mile and a half.”
JOCKEY QUOTES
Irad Ortiz Jr. (Life Is Good, 1st): “I respect the other horse a lot. I thought it was going to be a match race. But going into the first turn, my horse was so fast so I just let him do his thing. I felt like a lot of horse and I couldn’t wait to let him run. I just wanted to get to the second turn. But when I let him go, he kept going.”
“They broke faster, the first couple of steps, than me. But as soon as I saw that I said, ‘I’m going to clear them because I know I’ve got speed.’ I just let my horse break without asking him. When I saw Jose [Ortiz, on Stilleto Boy] was ahead of the other horse, I just asked my horse to go and he just moved right away and I was able to be in the lead.”
Joel Rosario (Knicks Go, 2nd): “The trip I thought would be fine. We thought maybe we’d be on the lead. I thought Life Is Good probably had a little more speed than me. He ran his race. They came over a little bit on the first turn so I had to kind of just take him outside a little bit and let him relax from there, and hopefully at some point the horse would come back a little bit, but he didn’t come back. He just kept going.”
“He broke well out of there, but they were quicker than me right away. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
“We had the first turn right away, and sometimes if you don’t break right away and then just go you kind of have to deal with that a little bit.”
“He was fine. He was OK with it. You can see how he came home. The other horse it looked like he had the advantage when he went to the first turn and got the jump on us. He’s a really good horse. He tried hard.”
Jose Ortiz (Stilleto Boy, 3rd): “I thought Knicks Go was going to be fighting with Life Is Good, but it didn’t happen that way. Life Is Good was way faster today. I was able to clear him also and I sat behind Life Is Good the whole time. I tried to save every inch of ground that I could. I was very close to the rail the whoel time. I thought my horse ran a huge race. I wish we got second, but Knicks Go is a nice horse and he dug in for second.”
Edwin Gonzalez (Sir Winston, 5th): “The horse that went in front went fast. I think it was pretty easy for that horse, and he was going easy in front. When a horse like that goes easy in front, it’s tough to beat him. My horse had a good trip. He made his run, and he never quit.”
Tyler Gaffalione (Chess Chief, 8th): “Very fast horses, top-quality bunch there. I just kind of got outrun. He put in a good run but the race was over at that point.”
Life Is Good beat Knicks Go and seven other rivals Saturday in gate-to-wire fashion to win the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. See what winning trainer Todd Pletcher, winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and other connections said about the race at Gulfstream Park.
TRAINER QUOTES
Todd Pletcher (Life Is Good, 1st): “We were committed to letting him run his race. You know Knicks Go is a fast horse. We didn’t know for sure how it was going to play out. There was the potential for a speed duel there. He broke and I didn’t think his first step was great, but he recovered pretty quickly and got the turn in good shape. Knicks Go maybe didn’t bounce away as quick as he does sometimes so we kind of had the advantage at that point.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble with any other owners I have trained for, (but) I can’t think of one that is better than him. What makes him so special is his ability to run fast, the high cruising speed and [then] keep going. He’s just got tremendous mechanics. Just a phenomenal talent.”
Brad Cox (Knicks Go, 2nd): “It looked like he broke alright and then kind of got outrun a little bit. I don’t know, that horse, the winner, he ran off the TV screen. The plan was definitely to go. I wanted to; we just got outrun. I talked to Joel and he said he handled the track fine. He said a couple on his outside were moving along pretty good and it kind of got a little tight [early] so he took him back off of it a little bit and obviously the winner was just galloping on the lead.”
“He’s been super good to us. We’re proud of him and we’re happy and excited that he’s retiring sound and healthy and I look forward to training some of his babies in a couple of years. He’s 6; it’s time for him to go off to stud. Hopefully he’ll pass on his heart and determination and be a good sire.”
Mike Maker (Endorsed, 4th): “I thought Endorsed ran super. I’m happy with him. It was a good show by the top two, as expected. No complaints.”
Mark Casse (Sir Winston, 5th): “He needs a mile and a half. He thought he was just getting going. We knew it was a tall task, but he ran well. The winner is unbelievable. I’m proud of our horse. We’ll look for a mile and a half.”
JOCKEY QUOTES
Irad Ortiz Jr. (Life Is Good, 1st): “I respect the other horse a lot. I thought it was going to be a match race. But going into the first turn, my horse was so fast so I just let him do his thing. I felt like a lot of horse and I couldn’t wait to let him run. I just wanted to get to the second turn. But when I let him go, he kept going.”
“They broke faster, the first couple of steps, than me. But as soon as I saw that I said, ‘I’m going to clear them because I know I’ve got speed.’ I just let my horse break without asking him. When I saw Jose [Ortiz, on Stilleto Boy] was ahead of the other horse, I just asked my horse to go and he just moved right away and I was able to be in the lead.”
Joel Rosario (Knicks Go, 2nd): “The trip I thought would be fine. We thought maybe we’d be on the lead. I thought Life Is Good probably had a little more speed than me. He ran his race. They came over a little bit on the first turn so I had to kind of just take him outside a little bit and let him relax from there, and hopefully at some point the horse would come back a little bit, but he didn’t come back. He just kept going.”
“He broke well out of there, but they were quicker than me right away. That’s how it goes sometimes.”
“We had the first turn right away, and sometimes if you don’t break right away and then just go you kind of have to deal with that a little bit.”
“He was fine. He was OK with it. You can see how he came home. The other horse it looked like he had the advantage when he went to the first turn and got the jump on us. He’s a really good horse. He tried hard.”
Jose Ortiz (Stilleto Boy, 3rd): “I thought Knicks Go was going to be fighting with Life Is Good, but it didn’t happen that way. Life Is Good was way faster today. I was able to clear him also and I sat behind Life Is Good the whole time. I tried to save every inch of ground that I could. I was very close to the rail the whoel time. I thought my horse ran a huge race. I wish we got second, but Knicks Go is a nice horse and he dug in for second.”
Edwin Gonzalez (Sir Winston, 5th): “The horse that went in front went fast. I think it was pretty easy for that horse, and he was going easy in front. When a horse like that goes easy in front, it’s tough to beat him. My horse had a good trip. He made his run, and he never quit.”
Tyler Gaffalione (Chess Chief, 8th): “Very fast horses, top-quality bunch there. I just kind of got outrun. He put in a good run but the race was over at that point.”
