Life is Good Heads Pre-Pegasus Work Slate for Pletcher

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club's Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Life Is Good  put in his final work Jan. 22 for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.

The millionaire son of Into Mischief   breezed five furlongs in 1:00.90 over a fast main track at Palm Beach Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, third-fastest of 15 horses at the distance there Saturday morning.

It was the seventh work for Life Is Good since his front-running 5 3/4-length triumph in the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar, the last six following his mid-December arrival in South Florida after an initial breeze at WinStar Training Center in Kentucky. The Pegasus will be his longest race at 1 1/8 miles.

"It was another super breeze. He looked awesome, moving really well, in hand throughout," Pletcher said. "It's kind of what we've been seeing every week. Just beautiful action, and does things effortlessly. We couldn't be more pleased with how he went."

Life is Good is a powerhouse. pic.twitter.com/hOOH3o6KKF

— Jason Blewitt (@jasonblewitt30) January 22, 2022

With five wins from six career starts, his lone loss coming by a neck in the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Stakes (G1) Aug. 28 in his first race since joining Pletcher, Life Is Good will make his Gulfstream debut next Saturday in a facedown with Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Knicks Go.

Life is Good also owns graded wins in the Sham Stakes (G3), San Felipe Stakes (G2), and Kelso Handicap (G2).

"We know he's super talented and he's training great," Pletcher said. "We're excited about the race, we're excited about the way he's coming into it, and we're looking forward to it."

Repole Stable's Fearless , also among the 17 Pegasus invitees, worked a half-mile Saturday in :48.80 seconds for Pletcher. Fearless exits a four-length triumph in Gulfstream's Dec. 18 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3), and the trainer said a decision is forthcoming on whether he will run in the Pegasus or in the $150,000 Charlatan Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G3), formerly the Fred Hooper, going one mile.

Also working for Pletcher Saturday was Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam , who went five furlongs in 1:01.34 as he prepares to defend his 2021 victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T). Colonel Liam went on to win the Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes (G2T) and Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes (G1) last spring (in a dead-heat). He will be making his first start since finishing off the board in the Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T) last June at Belmont Park.

Pletcher's other Pegasus Turf contender, Repole Stable's Never Surprised , worked a half-mile Saturday in :49.66. Never Surprised enters the race off back-to-back wins including the Dec. 27 Tropical Turf Stakes at Gulfstream, the same race Colonel Liam used as a springboard to his Pegasus win.

"Kind of different strategies with those two. Never Surprised, we're just trying to keep him happy. He's coming off some good races and he's kind of had a consistent schedule here recently, so we're just trying to keep him sharp," Pletcher said.

"With Colonel Liam we wanted to do a little more," he added. "He hasn't run in quite a while so we wanted to get another good work into him, which we did, and it seems like he's fit and ready to go. We'll hope he can run as well as he did last year."

The Pegasus World Cup program will feature seven graded stakes worth $5.2 million in purses, among these the $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G3T), where Pletcher is planning to run the Lows' multiple graded stakes winner Sweet Melania . Sweet Melania worked a half-mile in :48.98 Saturday.