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Pegasus Double Nets Irad Ortiz Jockey Of The Week Title

In the days leading up to the Pegasus World Championships, it was touch and go as to whether Irad Ortiz, Jr. would be released to ride following a knee injury at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 7. But the three-time Eclipse Award-winning Ortiz, Jr. was medically cleared and rode into the winner's circle in both Grade 1 events of the day. With the wins, Ortiz, Jr. was voted Jockey of the Week. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1,050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher gave a leg up to Ortiz, Jr. on defending champion, Colonel Liam in the G1 World Cup Turf Invitational. Despite a layoff of nearly eight months, Colonel Liam went off as the favorite in the field of 12. While racing off the pace, Ortiz, Jr. and Colonel Liam crept steadily closer to the leader, stablemate, Never Surprised. The pair took command at the eighth pole and drew clear to win by a length in 1:47.48 for the 1 1/8-mile distance. Ortiz, Jr. has now won three of the four runnings of the World Pegasus Turf Invitational.

“He didn't lose a step,” said Ortiz, Jr.. “He's healthy and he's strong. He did everything right. I asked him a little early and when I asked him to go, he just went on.”

The G1 Pegasus World Cup was thought to be a match race between presumed Horse of the Year Knicks Go with Joel Rosario in the irons for trainer Brad Cox and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good ridden by Ortiz, Jr. for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Off as the slight favorite, Life Is Good took control a sixteenth of a mile into the race and was never seriously threatened, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.91 to post a winning margin of 3-1/4 lengths.

“I respect the other horse a lot,” said Ortiz, Jr. “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 this 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.”

Ortiz, Jr.'s statistics for the week were 27-6-6-6 for an in-the-money rate of 66 percent and total purse earnings of $2,508,970 to lead all jockeys.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were Victor Carrasco with three stakes wins at Laurel. Harry Hernandez who won two stakes races at Sunland and led all jockeys for the week in wins with 11, Jose Ortiz who won the G3 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf, and Joel Rosario with two stakes wins at Gulfstream Park and two stakes wins at Sam Houston.

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Life Is Good Runs Knicks Go Off His Feet In Pegasus World Cup

Saturday was a huge day for jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Just after repeating in the Pegasus Turf with Colonel Liam, the pair repelled Knicks Go's chance to defend his title in the Grade 1, $3 million Pegasus World Cup with a dominating victory by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good. The 4-year-old son of Into Mischief led from the start and was truly never challenged, defeating co-favorite Knicks Go by about three lengths and finishing nine furlongs in 1:48.91.

The race certainly did not play out as it appeared on paper. Knicks Go, drawn toward the inside and well-known for his early speed, was shuffled back to third around the clubhouse turn as Life is Good and Ortiz kicked away from the rest of the nine-horse field. Life Is Good extended his lead down the backstretch to nearly six lengths, never challenged out in the center of the racetrack, while Joel Rosario and Knicks Go were simply left with too much to do.

After early fractions of :23.12 and :46.35, Life is Good continued to maintain a five-length lead over his rivals while Knicks Go tried to make up ground alongside Endorsed. Life is Good was never threatened through the stretch run, and Ortiz eased him down with a couple of pats in the final sixteenth of a mile to hit the wire three lengths ahead of Knicks Go. Stiletto Boy checked in third, and Endorsed was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West, Life is Good is out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk. A $525,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling sale, Life is Good impressed from the start when winning his first three races for trainer Bob Baffert. Taken off the Derby trail by injury, Life is Good returned in the barn of Todd Pletcher 5 1/2 months later with a second-place finish in the G1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes. He won the G2 Kelso ahead of an easy win in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The Pegasus win improves the colt's overall record to six wins from seven starts with earnings of over $2 million.

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Colonel Liam Goes Back-To-Back For Emotional Irad Ortiz In Pegasus World Cup Turf

Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam became the first back-to-back winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf this Saturday, getting a good trip from Irad Ortiz, Jr. to defeat his stablemate Never Surprised by just over a length. It was the second year in a row that Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher saddled the top two finishers in the $1 million contest at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Sent off as the 6-5 favorite despite not running in 239 days, Colonel Liam completed nine furlongs over the firm turf course in 1:49.95. The 5-year-old son of Liam's Map has now won seven of his 10 career starts for earnings of over $1.8 million.

Ortiz was emotional after the victory, his third win in the Pegasus Turf (he won it in 2018 with Bricks and Mortar). The jockey acknowledged that January had been “a tough month” for him, personally. After returning from a 30-day suspension, Ortiz suffered a knee injury at Gulfstream that initially looked as though it may force him to miss Pegasus day. Instead, the faith of his doctor got Ortiz back in the saddle and Colonel Liam carried him to the winner's circle.

Never Surprised broke on top of the 12-strong Pegasus Turf field, pulling away to lead by as much as two lengths through early fractions of 25.43 and 49.39 seconds. Colonel Liam was in the clear while three-wide for most of his trip, and Ortiz allowed him to join his stablemate on the far turn.

Battling through the length of the stretch, Colonel Liam prevailed in the final sixteenth and pulled away to win by about 1 1/2 lengths. Never Surprised had to settle for second, while Space Traveller came flying up the inside late to nab third.

Bred in Kentucky by the Phillips Racing Partnership, Colonel Liam is out of the unraced Bernardini mare Amazement, herself out of two-time G1-winning millionaire Wonder Again. Purchased for $50,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling sale, Colonel Liam commanded $1.2 million as a 2-year-old at OBS April the following year.

Though he didn't debut until his 3-year-old season, Colonel Liam won at first asking. That year, he won the listed Tropical Park Derby in December and finished fourth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational. In 2021, Colonel Liam kicked off the season with a win in the Pegasus Turf, then added wins in the G2 Muniz Memorial and the G1 Turf Classic before finishing off the board in the G1 Manhattan. Pletcher trained him up to the Pegasus off that long layoff, and the horse improved his overall record to seven wins from 10 starts to earn over $1.8 million.

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Favored Regal Glory Makes It Look Easy In Inaugural Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf

Sent to post as the 4-5 favorite, Peter Brant's Regal Glory made short work of the inaugural Grade 3, $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The Chad Brown-trained 6-year-old daughter of Animal Kingdom burst into the clear in the stretch and pulled away to win by about three lengths under jockey Jose Ortiz. Regal Glory ran 1 1/16 miles over the firm turf course in 1:41.74.

Alms was game to deny Shifty She for the place, while Gift List checked in fourth.

Though typically near the pace or leading the way in her 16-race career, Regal Glory was last in the field in the early going. Alms and Shifty She were together at the front and led the way through fractions of 23.94 seconds, 48.03 and 1:11.98. Meanwhile, jockey Jose Ortiz guided Regal Glory to the outside on the run up the backstretch and began moving past other horses entering the turn.

“The '5' horse [Gift List] broke really sharp and took my position,” Ortiz said. “He broke a step faster than I did, but they went fast early and I was able to put her outside to follow Luis [Saez] on Sweet Melania – I rode her before and I know she likes the track and decided to follow her. At the three-eighths pole, I had a lot of horse and decided to go around everybody. You could see I had a lot of horse under me. She was just the best in the race.

“I was a little nervous early on because she didn't break that well, which she does sometimes,” trainer Chad Brown said. “Thankfully, Jose knows her so well and she's so good that she was able to overcome it. He rode a beautiful Plan B type of race. It didn't go his way the first part of it. Once he got her down the backside and following a live horse to move him up, it was really good judgment for him and the horse was there for him. I was proud of both of them.”

Godolphin's Alms, trained by Michael Stidham, was second at 19-1. Shifty She was third.

“I had a perfect trip,” said Alm's jockey Joel Rosario. “She dragged me up to the lead and it looked like she gave everything she got, just the winner came right by us. But she ran well. I was on the lead and then that horse came and put a little pressure there but she was fine with it, and then she came back a little bit the last part so that was good.”

Bred in Kentucky by Paul Pompa, Regal Glory is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning More Than Ready mare Mary's Follies. Pompa raced Regal Glory through her 2020 season, acquiring a trio of graded stakes wins on the turf, before Brant picked her up from the 2021 Pompa dispersal. Remaining in Brown's barn, Regal Glory got her first Grade 1 win at the end of 2021, capturing the Matriarch at Del Mar in late November.

Brant purchased Regal Glory in January 2021 for $925,000 at the disbursement sale of the late Paul Pompa's bloodstock. Following the Filly and Mare Turf victory, Brown said Brant might change his plans to retire her.

“She was scheduled to be bred to Into Mischief,” Brown said. “Mr. Brant and I were watching her train this week up at Payson, and we were remarking how sound she is and how great she looks at this age. We left it the morning, let's see how she runs and comes out of this race. It's not out of the question to run her at 6. So I'm going to let him enjoy this win, and we're going to look at the horse, and ultimately he's going to decide.”

Overall, Regal Glory has amassed a record of 10 wins and 4 seconds from 17 starts, for earnings of over $1.5 million.

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