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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 6, 2009

ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA

ERIC WING: We're glad to have the winning rider of the Ladies' Classic with us, Garrett Gomez. For you, Garrett, Breeders' Cup win number nine in your career. You were lagging the field as you often do with Life is Sweet. At what point in the race did you realize the fractions were smoking up front?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Well, going into the first turn, she gave me a hint that she was kind of like she wasn't sprinting as far as the way she was traveling in the race. So it gave me a lot of confidence with her going up into the back side.
As I got her halfway around the first turn, I felt like they were moving along pretty good. I looked up and Careless Jewel had snuck away by six or seven lengths and had started to really fly. A couple of the horses started to kind of give chase a little bit, and I just stayed on the fence.
She was always traveling really well for me. And I felt like about the 3/8 pole started backing up, and you know, we got to the 3/8 pole, and they continued to keep going. I said, man, maybe my clock's off, you know. Because I felt like we were moving along pretty solid and stayed like that for a ways, and I got her in gear about the 5/16th pole. I started to make my move on the outside, and I went around Kent Desormeaux, and me and him kind of moved together a little bit.
All of a sudden just as we turned for home they started to back-up, and she was finding her best stride. Before I knew it, she had reached the front in quick fashion, and kept on well with her task.
ERIC WING: We're joined by Julien Leparoux who won two Breeders' Cup races today. And congratulations, Julien. Thanks for being with us. Of course, you won with She Be Wild and also Informed Decision.
I want to ask one more question to Garrett before I forget. From a rider's standpoint strategy-wise, you've ridden Life is Sweet seven times leading up to today. Did the absence of Zenyatta change anything in the equation where you were concerned?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Well, yeah, because I knew she probably would have ended up second (laughing). Zenyatta's a champion mare, and this mare is, too, but Zenyatta's beat her a couple of times pretty handily.
This mare's been running hard, and she actually ran against the boys a couple of times. John did a tremendous job getting the filly's confidence back up underneath her and having her ready for today. And that's all it was. Really kind of getting her confidence back, and like I said, he did a tremendous job doing that.
ERIC WING: John Shirreffs is also with us. John, congratulations, you obviously own Filly Friday. While you were watching Life is Sweet making that big move swooping the field. Forget for a moment that that wasn't Zenyatta?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: You know, I've been waiting for Life is Sweet to do that for a couple of races now. She just looked great. She swung wide. She made a great run down the stretch. Just looked like her old self again.
ERIC WING: We also have right in between team Life is Sweet, Julien Leparoux. One win was not all that big a surprise. Informed Decision did what she's done all year, win, when it's a synthetic sprint. She Be Wild much higher odds, and perhaps She Be Wild's trip was a little more eventful. Tell us about that.
JULIEN LEPAROUX: Well, I was just behind the leader, which was Garrett. And I saved ground all the way around the race, and she really pulled up on the straight, and I take a shot, and she finished very good.
ERIC WING: I don't mean at all to diminish what you or any of your colleagues do, but was the ride on Informed Decision relatively easy?
JULIEN LEPAROUX: It was, yeah. She is awesome (smiling).

Q. We know that will Life is Sweet loves Santa Anita, how much more does she like Santa Anita rather than Hollywood or Del Mar?
GARRETT GOMEZ: Well, I mean she ran a race or two at Hollywood really good races. You know, but I felt like I had told John that I felt like she wasn't handling the racetrack quite the same as she was here early in the spring. And you can kind of see that her past performances, you know. And you know, she had a couple of tough races, one against Zenyatta and against the boys.
Like I said, I was just glad to get her back on this racetrack and, like I said, to get her confidence back. John did a great job doing that. Preparing her for this race. And, you know, like around the first turn I told John I knew she was back because she actually got off a step slow, and she kept me kind of where she's been keeping me.
But she's been dropping the bridle as we got around the first turn. Today she grabbed the bridle and I had to reach and just kind of keep her there like I was in the spring.
They were actually going fairly quick around the first turn and up the back side. She was keeping me in touch with them, and traveling well the whole time. Like I said, it's just a good day for her to come out and show her ability on a day like today.

Q. How much in your dreams would you give tomorrow to have this kind of a pace?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: Oh, we'd sure like to have a good pace and a good trip, and have a little luck tomorrow. Because in a big field you usually have to have some luck somewhere to save a little ground or get an opening. So that's what we're hoping for.
ERIC WING: Did today's race in the Ladies' Classic, if you needed any convincing, does this convince you even more that you did make the right move with Zenyatta as far as running her tomorrow is concerned?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: You know, Zenyatta was at the point in her career where she would have an opportunity to run in the Classic if she trained well up to it, and she trained well up to it. So that was the decision for the Classic.

Q. Can you talk a little about having the prospect of winning both Classics? What's going through your mind about that?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: Well, you know, I'm sort of really excited about Life is Sweet today. As Garrett said over the summer she just wasn't getting into her races. Her last workout she had before her last workout was really good because she responded to what the rider asked. Then our last workout the rider didn't have to ask her to do anything, and she just did it as she did earlier in the year. So that was great.
We always felt that she was going to run a big race today if the opportunity presented itself.

Q. Life is Sweet this evening. Life will be sweeter tomorrow. Would you have chosen to run Zenyatta against the boys? The fact that you have some kind of a home-field advantage was that critical to your decision?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: I really besides not having to travel, right, that's as far as the home-field advantage goes as far as I'm concerned because Zenyatta's best race was in Oak Lawn when she won the Apple Blossom.
So as far as home-field advantage talking track surfaces, I don't think it is there.
ERIC WING: Julien, you were on Rainbow View in the Ladies' Classic, what was it like seeing Garrett go around you so quickly?
JULIEN LEPAROUX: Well, I was not very pleased, that's for sure (laughing). He went by me very fast, so she ran big.

Q. Mr. Wygod mentioned that Life is Sweet tied up during the summer. Did she have some health problems that caused her to have kind of an off summer?
JOHN SHIRREFFS: No, I think that she was just sort of a unique training situation down there. So she just said the stress level got a little high. She had some muscle cramping, which we call tying up.
ERIC WING: Terrific performance by Life is Sweet, and Julien, a great job by you today with two victories. Congratulations to all three of you. And best of luck tomorrow.

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