Life Is Good Sizzles to Victory in Dirt Mile

Life Is Good  has the kind of name that bespeaks happiness and conjures visions of blissful days.

After what happened Nov. 6 in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Del Mar, it's nearly impossible to avoid gushing about what sort of life awaits this rather "good" 3-year-old in 2022.

Not only was China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good a decisive, front-running 5 3/4-length winner of the Dirt Mile, he powered to his first grade 1 win with such a dynamic display of early and late speed that the crowd gasped when track announcer Larry Collmus informed them that the son of Into Mischief   sprinted through the opening quarter-mile in :21.88.

Good? Oh, he was much better than that.

"He was great," Elliott Walden, CEO, president, and racing manager of WinStar Farm, said about the colt trained by Todd Pletcher. "When (jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.) came back after the race, he told Todd that he thought he was going :23 and :47."

It's rare that a horse can dash through a :44.94 half-mile and trick an Eclipse Award-winning rider such as Ortiz into believing that he was running some 10 lengths slower, but Life Is Good has that dynamic blend of talent and speed that allows him to make something demanding look simple.

"He's an exceptional talent," Pletcher said after Life Is Good's fifth win in six career starts. "Sometimes when you expect to win, it's hard to win, but he did it."

In winning Nov. 6, Life Is Good resurrected visions of the 2020 Dirt Mile when Knicks Go   won by 3 1/2 lengths and went on to become the morning-line favorite for the Nov. 6 $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Next year, it could be Life Is Good's turn to bask in the spotlight of the Classic.

While with trainer Bob Baffert, Life Is Good was a favorite for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) until he was found to have ankle chips that required surgery and was sidelined in mid-March. While working his way back to the races, Life Is Good was sent to Pletcher after Medina Spirit  failed two post-race drug tests following his victory in the Kentucky Derby and Baffert's being barred by Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association.

Baffert's lawyers won in court to overturn the NYRA ban, but by then plans were worked out to send Life Is Good to Pletcher and race in New York.

After Life Is Good's loss in the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1), a plan was crafted to use the Dirt Mile as a springboard to the top 2022 races rather than test him at 1 1/4 miles in the Classic. Since then he has reeled off wins in the Kelso Handicap (G2) and Dirt Mile and is now poised for longer and richer tests next year.

Walden said Life Is Good would likely target the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and/or the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) as the first 2022 objectives for the son of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk who was bred by Gary and Mary West.

While there will always be a sting from missing out on the Triple Crown in the spring, upcoming races like that help to make it easier to focus on the future rather than the past.

"We've been in this business long enough to know that things happen and if you take care of the horse, they will take care of you," WinStar owner Kenny Troutt said. "And so it was a tough phone call when Bob called me and said, 'Hey, he didn't come out of a work good.' You know, I called these guys and they take it like pros and they understand that as long as we take care of the horse, the horse will take care of us and that's exactly what happened today."

A $525,000 purchase from the Paramount Sales consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Life Is Good is the second foal and second winner from his dam, and her only stakes winner. She also has a yearling Blame   filly and a weanling Candy Ride   colt.

Life Is Good, who led by a length much of the way before pulling away in the stretch, covered the mile in 1:34.12 with Ortiz putting a finger to his lips as he crossed the wire in a tribute to jockey Miguel Mena who had been killed earlier in the week.

Sent off as a 3-5 favorite, he paid $3.40 to win.

Slam Dunk Racing, Richard Baltas, Jerry McClanahan, and Michael Nentwig's Ginobili , a Munnings   gelding bred by Hinkle Farms and trained by Baltas, futilely chased the winner in the stretch and settled for second.

"We just ran into a better horse. We got a great trip, and it looked around the turn that we were making a move and we're going to win it, but Life Is Good kicked clear. I mean, I'm pretty happy. I would be happier if we'd had won it, but Ginobili ran a great race," Baltas said.

Runner-up Ginobili, the 4-1 third choice, was three-quarters of a length ahead of Restrainedvengence , a son of Hold Me Back  bred by Westwind Farms. He is owned by Kelly Brinkerhoff and Bob Grayson Jr. and trained by Val Brinkerhoff.

Video: Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1)