HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Life was good around trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn Sunday morning at Palm Beach Downs. One day earlier, team Pletcher sent out four winners on the Pegasus World Cup program at Gulfstream Park, closing out the card by winning both the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf, with defending champion Colonel Liam, as well as the main-event $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, with racing’s newest hero Life Is Good. Life Is Good returned to his winter home at Palm Beach Downs on Sunday none the worse for wear from his scintillating, 3 1/4-length victory over soon-to-be-named Horse of the Year Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup. It was the sixth win in seven starts for the son of Into Mischief who earned a career-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure with a thoroughly dominating performance over the horse considered the best in the world in 2021.     “He cooled out really well after the race and looked good when shipping back here to Palm Beach Downs this morning,” Pletcher said late Sunday morning. “I talked to Elliott (Walden, president and CEO of owner WinStar Farm) this morning, but mostly about how Life Is Good was doing coming out of the race. We’ll give it a little bit of time before we start to weigh all our options to see what might be the best path for him for the entire season. Everything is on the table at the moment, we’re not committed to anything yet.” :: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now! Pletcher did admit the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 26 is among the options. “We’re not only going to think about his next start, but also the entire campaign,” Pletcher said. “And running in Dubai would obviously alter the schedule for what races might come into play here during the course of the season, because if he runs over there, he’ll need some extra time off once he returns.” Pletcher praised jockey Irad Ortiz’s handling of Life Is Good in the Pegasus World Cup and his decision to draw off to a commanding advantage surprisingly early in the race while still managing to keep plenty in reserve for the crucial late stage. The Pegasus World Cup marked the first time Life Is Good had ever competed at nine furlongs. “His first step out of the gate was not great but he (Irad) was able to get him cruising along fast enough to spread the race,” Pletcher said. “He kept him well off the rail down the backstretch to help get him to settle. It was kind of a balancing act, he had to get him going to get position into the first turn, then get him to turn back off again. And it all worked out well.” Ortiz also provided a picture-perfect trip for Colonel Liam, who rallied from easy striking distance to a one-length victory over stablemate Never Surprised in the Pegasus Turf. “I thought it was a huge effort from Colonel Liam off the layoff,” Pletcher said. “He was very impressive, he really showed his class. It was also another big effort from Never Surprised, who might have been compromised by his post position because he had to be used a little bit from the outside.” Pletcher said he will confer with the owners before deciding what’s next for Colonel Liam, whose 102 Beyer on Saturday was also a lifetime best. :: Want the best bonus in racing? Get a $250 deposit match, $10 free bet, and free Formulator with DRF Bets. Code: WINNING Pletcher, who also won the Grade 3 W L McKnight Stakes with Abaan and a maiden race with the promising first-time starter Swing Shift on Saturday, fell just short of a five-win afternoon when Fearless finished a hard-luck second behind Speaker’s Corner in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper. “We were unfortunate to draw the rail, but he showed up and ran his race,” said Pletcher, who hadn’t expected to see Fearless drop back to last after the opening quarter of the one-mile Hooper before unleashing a steady run to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner despite losing considerable ground on the final turn. As for Knicks Go, he, too, took a van ride Sunday, although it was a bit longer than Life Is Good’s 45-minute trip from Gulfstream Park to Palm Beach Downs. Knicks Go shipped off to his next life as a stallion at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky. “He looks amazing this morning, he always bounces out of his races well,” trainer Brad Cox said a couple of hours before Knicks Go’s departure. “It’s not like we’ll never get to see him again. We live just an hour and one-half away from the farm, so we can go visit him any time. I don’t look at this as the end of the story, just an end of a chapter. Hopefully, he’ll be able to write some new chapters in his new career at stud.” Although obviously disappointed Knicks Go didn’t go out a winner in defense of his crown in the Pegasus World Cup, Cox praised his star for a second-place finish that swelled his final lifetime earnings to more than $9.25 million. “I thought our horse ran really, really well,” Cox said. “It wasn’t as if he didn’t show up or wasn’t ready or didn’t fire. He ran up against a phenomenal horse who did it much easier into and out of the first turn, getting an uncontested lead like he did. That’s where he won his race. For me the most important thing wasn’t whether [Knicks Go] won or lost but that he ended his career happy and healthy, and that’s just what he did.”        Saturday wasn’t a total loss for Cox, who sent out the promising filly Just One Time to a three-quarter-length triumph making her graded stakes debut in the Grade 2 Inside Information. It was the Pennsylvania-bred’s first start since joining Cox’s barn in early November. “We have no plans for her next start, but now that she’s a Grade 2 winner, I think we’ve got to take a swing at some Grade 1s this year,” Cox said. “She trains like a filly who can compete at that level.”