Life Is Good was in front at every call in his five career victories and led into deep stretch in his only loss in the seven-furlong H. The defending three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey will be aboard Life Is Good, the dazzling front-running winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) last time out, while Joel Rosario will be on defending champion Knicks Go, who concluded his 2021 campaign with a sizzling front-running triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). will have one of the two best seats in the house at Gulfstream Park Saturday for the anxiously awaited showdown between Knicks Go and Life Is Good in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) presented by 1 S/T BET. Rounding out the top five is Flavien Prat ($29,832,252), Joel Rosario ($29,250,139), Tyler Gaffalione ($27,360,825), and Luis Saez ($24,339,905).(Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., will have the mount on Life Is Good / Photos by Holly M. Every day we are out there, I am learning something, and I feel better and more experienced, more prepared. If it's for me, it's for me, and (I) try to do the right thing. 'I think in 2019 we had a record and we ended up breaking that this (past) year so who knows. We just work hard and focus and keep going. It's a lot of work too but I enjoy it.You never know what's going to happen. 'When this kind of thing happens to you, you have to do it,' he said. So what does Ortiz have in store for 2023 after achieving at such a high level the past year? For him it is an uncomplicated reply- anything is possible with dedication. They make me feel special and part of wherever I go.' 'They want to be close to me to take pictures and I really enjoy that. I love to ride in New York but when I visit other tracks and people support me, the way they react to me,' Ortiz said. 'These last couple years, everywhere I go people treat me so good. He says there was not one track he preferred over another because he felt welcomed at all venues he rode at.

But I knew what he could do and I knew how he was doing so I loved going to the Belmont Stakes and getting it done one of my favorite moments of the year for sure.'Īlong with support from his agent, trainers, and owners, Ortiz says the attention he received from the public is part of what made the year remarkable. I told Steve (Rushing), 'I think this is my Derby horse.' We ended up back on him in the Derby,' Ortiz said. 'I liked my horse, I was working with him for a long time. The jockey has yet to win the Preakness Stakes (G1) or the Kentucky Derby. Mo Donegal's victory gave Ortiz his second win in the Belmont after Creator 's success in 2016. In Mo Donegal's last time out, Ortiz secured the victory in the final leg of the Triple Crown, soaring past his brother Jose aboard Nest, who took runner-up honors. The ride went to Joel Rosario for the colt's next run in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), but Ortiz was back on for the Kentucky Derby (G1) in which he placed fifth. Ortiz was aboard the now 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo when he broke his maiden in October of his 2-year-old year at Belmont Park and returned to partner with the colt for his first graded stakes victory in the 2021 Remsen Stakes (G2) as well as a third-place effort in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park for his first start in 2022. I'm so happy.'įrom a year which saw Ortiz hit the wire first 325 times from 1,363 rides, he says that his triumph in the Belmont Stakes (G1) aboard Donegal Racing and Repole Stable's Mo Donegal was one of his most treasured memories. I don't look too much, but when I do see what happened, all the numbers are very impressive.

Irad ortiz