Life Is Good to Have Surgery for Ankle Chip

Life Is Good, who was ruled off the Triple Crown trail after exiting a March 20 work with an apparent hind-end injury, will undergo surgery March 26 for a small chip in his left hind ankle, according to a tweet from XBTV reporter Millie Ball.

"He has a very small chip in his left hind ankle. Dr. (Larry) Bramlage will do the surgery on Friday in KY at Rood & Riddle," trainer Bob Baffert was quoted in the tweet.

pdate on Life is Good .....
Baffert, “He has a very small chip in his left hind ankle. Dr. Bramlage will do the surgery on Friday in KY at Rood & Riddle.” @WatchXBTV @santaanitapark @1stbet

— camilla yakteen (@camillayakteen) March 21, 2021

Baffert also discussed Life Is Good's step back from the Triple Crown trail with LA radio March 21. 

"Every day as a trainer, there's always a possibility of something like that happening," Baffert told LA radio. "He couldn't have worked more beautifully. It was a great, nice cruising work like he usually does. He's so light on his feet. He came back (to the barn), the rider said he felt great … Then all of a sudden later in the morning, you could tell something was bothering him in the hind leg. 

"He took a couple funny steps, so that's when we realized he had done something to his hind leg. He'll be fine, he'll be back. It wasn't anything serious but it's enough that he'll need some time off. We're going to send him back to Kentucky and run more tests on him … Everybody that I talked to, we're talking 60 days (off), so that takes him out of everything." 

Baffert didn't hesitate when asked if he thought Life Is Good could be back in time for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar in November.

"He'll be ready for that, definitely," Baffert said.

Life Is Good is undefeated in three starts for owners WinStar Farm and China Horse Club. The Into Mischief  colt won on debut last November at Del Mar, returned this year to take the Jan. 2 Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park, and romped by eight lengths in the March 6 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.

Baffert was pointing Life Is Good to the April 3 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) as a final prep for the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). With Life Is Good now out of the Santa Anita Derby, Baffert said he's planning on running Zedan Racing Stable's San Felipe runner-up and Jan. 30 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) winner Medina Spirit, and possibly Karl Watson, Michael Pegram, and Paul Weitman's Defunded, who broke his maiden racing six furlongs in his second start March 6 at Santa Anita.

Outside the Baffert barn, the Santa Anita Derby could gain an entry from John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer.

Trainer Michael McCarthy told New York Racing Association media that he is opting to keep the Twirling Candy  colt in Southern California instead of ship him to Aqueduct Racetrack for the April 3 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2). The defection of Life Is Good made the Santa Anita Derby on the same day a more viable option.

"I'd say the Wood is a second choice," McCarthy said. "We're just going to monitor what's happening out here. Both races are in play but I'm leaning more toward staying out here."

Rombauer, second in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita at 2, last out won the Feb. 13 El Camino Real Derby on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields.