Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Mucho Gusto finds $1.8 million worth
4-year-old, trained by Baffert, breezes to win in Pegasus World Cup
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Irad Ortiz Jr.’s move paid off, and Mucho Gusto’s earnings more than doubled in a couple of minutes.
Ortiz made a last-minute decision to take the mount aboard Mucho Gusto, and picked the right time to let the 4-year-old kick into high gear Saturday in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.
Ortiz was going to ride Spun to Run, then made the tough call about a week before the race to switch to Mucho Gusto. As it turned out, Spun to Run was scratched because of a health-related issue — and Mucho Gusto took the $1.8 million winners’ share of the purse.
“I want to thank my agent and I want to thank (trainer) Bob Baffert for letting me ride the horse,” Ortiz said.
Mucho Gusto finished the 1⅛mile trip around the dirt in 1:48.85. Mucho Gusto paid $8.80, $5 and $3,80. Mr Freeze returned $7.60 and $5.20, and War Story paid $6.80 to show.
Mucho Gusto’s career earnings went from about $780,000 to roughly $2.6 million. He could seriously add to that if, as expected, he makes his
next start at the $20 million Saudi Cup — the world’s richest horse race — on Feb. 29.
The Pegasus was a wide-open betting race, especially after the two morning-line favorites — Omaha Beach and Spun to Run — were scratched Thursday. Omaha Beach was going to run the Pegasus as the final race of his career.
Those departures took a 12-horse field down to 10, and without a big favorite.
Mucho Gusto took advantage. “So happy to win this race,” Ortiz said.
It wasn’t even close at the finish: Ortiz was cruising, as the nine others were all racing for second. Ortiz guided Mucho Gusto to the outside and easily to the lead at the top of the stretch, then simply pulled away from there.
“Bob started working on that early and thank God he did,” said Jimmy Barnes, an assistant trainer for Baffert. “I’m just so happy for Irad. He did everything we needed him to do.”
The Pegasus series was run under no-race-day-medication rules, something the sport will be pivoting to broadly over the next couple of years — a change that many prominent trainers said has been overdue.