Month: October 2022

Life Is Good Cruises To Victory In Woodward

Using his trademark front-running style, favorite Life Is Good set a comfortable pace throughout the $500,000 Woodward (G1) then shook off a challenge from Law Professor in early stretch and cruised to victory Saturday at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. for trainer Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good was sharp from the gate and coasted through the lane to win by 1 1/4 lengths while covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.57 on a sloppy (sealed) track. He returned $2.10

Law Professor, who tracked from third before bidding for the lead nearling the home turn, hung on for second, 10 1/4 lenghts in front of third-place finisher Keepinmind. Informative, who stalked from second early on, finished last in the four-horse field.

Life Is Good set moderate fractions of :24.40, :48:60, and 1:13.07 for six furlongs. The mile went in 1:37.24 with Law Professor posing a brief threat to his outside, but he could not catch the winner.

A 4-year-old Into Mischief colt, Life Is Good came into Saturday's race off a gate-to-wire, two-length triumph in the Whitney (G1) going the same distance August 6 at Saratoga Race Course.

Pletcher said Life Is Good likely ship Monday afternoon to Keeneland, site of the $6-million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 5.

Campaigned by WinStar Farm and CHC Inc., Life Is Good posted his fourth win at the highest level, including last year's Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) at Del Mar and the 2022 Pegasus World Cup (G1) over Horse o the Year Knicks Go in his season debut, and eighth overall graded stakes victory while improving his career line to 9-1-0 from 11 starts.

Bred in Kentucky by Mary and Gary West Stable Inc., Life Is Good was sold out of the Paramount Sales consignment for $525,0000 to China Horse Club and Maverick Racing at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His dam is the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk, who has a yearling Candy Ride colt as well as a full brother to Life Is Good born this year.

G1 Woodward Quotes

Todd Pletcher, winning trainer of Life Is Good (No. 1, $2.10*): “You could tell going into the first turn he had his ears straight up and was really relaxed. That was good, but it also maybe plays against his strength a little bit to be that turned off. Part of his brilliance is being able to go fast and keep going. It was the logical tactics for today, but I don't think it's his preferred running style. His real weapon is his high-cruising speed and the ability to keep going.

“I was confident that he would respond when asked, but it was his first time over a sealed off track, and this track has not been playing real fast since the meet began. Any time you're a prohibitive favorite like that, you're concerned about those things.

“This was one of those, where there was only one satisfactory outcome and that's to win. We wanted to make sure we did that, while also keeping in mind that we have a bigger goal in five weeks so we tried to balance that out the best we could.

On third-place Keepmeinmind: “Tough scenario for him, he's obviously a horse that will enjoy a little more pace.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., winning jockey aboard Life Is Good (No. 1): “He's quick out of there. There was not too much speed in the race and the first part of the race, there was a lot of water – we got a lot of rain. I wanted to get off the rail and was able to do it. He broke fast, and he stayed there [on the lead] the whole time.

“The track didn't help too much – it's not that fast. He relaxed and I didn't have use him [too much]. He just was quiet, he was relaxed and we waited and he gave me everything he had from the quarter pole to the wire. If I asked him a little earlier, he could go faster and keep going.

“The way he relaxed today, he can do anything. That's the good thing about him. He's getting older and his mind is doing much better. I asked him pretty good from the quarter-pole to the wire, but he responded well.”

Elliott Walden, CEO and racing manager of winning co-owner WinStar Farm of Life Is Good (No. 1): “Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] said maybe he was a little too turned off today. He was so keen in the Whitney, he wanted to make sure to keep him relaxed. Handling the mud is a relief more than anything.

“Constitutions, you never take them lightly and Law Professor ran the race of his life. It was a great race by him. Constitutions love the mud, so I figured he'd give him a good run. He drew away from him comfortably. We wanted to win, but we didn't want to put on a show. It's on to the next one.

“Irad was intent on getting him to relax. He was looking at the slop a little bit. The thing about him is even though he runs close to the pace or on the lead, he's very versatile. Today, they went 48 and change. In the Whitney, they went 46 and change. It doesn't matter what the fractions are, he's an incredible horse.”

Rob Atras, trainer of runner-up Law Professor (No. 2): “I'm very happy. This is the way he's been training and we thought he was just as good if not better on the dirt. I know it was sloppy, but we were expecting a big performance. We knew what we were up against in running against Life Is Good. He probably ran just as good or better than we thought.

“I knew the fractions were a little soft, but it was definitely a thrill on the turn. We've seen Life Is Good get a little bit late going a mile and an eighth or further. He obviously had enough horse to hold us off. Just to run with a horse like that is exciting.

“[The Grade 2 Fayette on October 29 at Keeneland] is only 29 days so we'll see how he comes out of it. We wanted to get a race in between and not have to ship, so that's the plan.”

Jose Ortiz, jockey aboard runner-up Law Professor (No. 2): “It was perfect. We had a great trip and he broke well. Life Is Good went to the lead as expected and I sat behind most of the time. I was ready to punch by the three-eighths pole and I was traveling really nicely. He handled the track very good today and Rob [Atras] did an amazing job. He was ready and he put in a huge effort. I'm very happy with him moving forward.

“Heading to the quarter-pole, I thought I had a big shot to win it. But then Life Is Good hit another gear.”

Winning margin: 1 1/4 lengths

Final time (1 1/8 miles): 1:49.57

Fractions: 24.40, 48.60, 1:13.07, 1:37.24

Full order of finish: 1-2-4-5

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More Than Ready’s Pleasant Passage Goes Gate-to-Wire in Miss Grillo

Front-running Pleasant Passage dug in resolutely Saturday to  honor her recently deceased sire and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Up in time to belie longer than 15-1 odds on debut at Saratoga Aug. 21, she employed opposite tactics here under new pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., taking her five rivals along through fractions of :23.81, :49.77 and 1:14.98 over the yielding going. Free Look took a run at her to try and secure a ninth Miss Grillo trophy for Chad Brown, but Pleasant Passage stiff-armed that rival to the wire as favored P.G. Johnson S. winner Be Your Best was left with too much to do after a poor start.

“The way the track is playing, and I knew there wasn't much speed in the race,” said Ortiz, fresh off a victory in the GI Woodward S. one race earlier with Life Is Good (Into Mischief). “The assistant trainer [Anthony Hamilton] told me, 'She's going to be forwardly placed because that's how she's been training.' So I tried to warm her up good… There wasn't too much speed in the race and I knew if I could be in front that would be good for me. It worked out well because I made the lead easily. On the backside, she was nice and relaxed. When I asked her to go, she responded and she was there for me.”

This was the first-ever Miss Grillo win for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who said, “She ran well in her first start from a little off the pace coming up the rail. She was very professional. Today, there wasn't any speed in the race and she had trained sharp off her last race. Irad let her do her thing when she broke and he rode a good race on her.”

Saturday, Belmont at the Big A
MISS GRILLO S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 2yo, f,
1 1/16mT, 1:45.25, yl.
1–PLEASANT PASSAGE, 120, f, 2, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Peaceful Passage, by War Front
                2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Emory
Hamilton (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $167,750. Werk Nick
Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Free Look, 120, f, 2, Tapit–Wild Mint, by Medaglia d'Oro.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Ylg '21
KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-KatieRich Farms (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $40,000.
3–Be Your Best (Ire), 122, f, 2, Muhaarar (GB)–Kamakura, by
Medaglia d'Oro. 'TDN Rising Star' 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
O-Michael J. Ryan; B-St. Croix Bloodstock (IRE); T-Horacio De
Paz. $24,000.
Margins: 3/4, 2, 3/4. Odds: 9.60, 1.65, 1.20.
Also Ran: Alluring Angel (GB), Im Just Kiddin, Georgees Spirit.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.

Pedigree Notes:

Pleasant Passage is the 53rd graded winner and 130th stakes winner in the Northern Hemisphere for her prolific sire, who has sired two prior winners of the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She is the four graded winner and 16th stakes winner of what are sure to be many more for broodmare sire War Front.

The winner hails from the super deep female family developed by Emory Hamilton and her family's King Ranch. Her dam is a half to MGSW/MGISP Hungry Island (More Than Ready), and further down the page is another standout by More Than Ready in the form of MGISW Verrazano. Other highest-level winners from the family include this year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup hero Olympiad (Speightstown); Preservationist (Arch), who has first yearlings; third dam Chic Shirine (Mr. Prospector) and her champion sister Queena, Serra Lake (Seattle Slew), Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid), et al.

Pleasant Passage's yearling half-brother by Kitten's Joy was purchased by Legion Bloodstock on behalf of Hoolie Racing for $150,000 at the recently concluded Keeneland September sale. Peaceful Passage, whose one career win from six tries came going 1 1/2 miles on the Kempton all-weather, was bred to Mendelssohn for 2023.

 

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Tapit Colt Congruent Proves Best In Off-The-Turf Laurel Futurity

Tami Bobo and Lugamo Racing Stable's Congruent, the most expensive horse in the field, emerged from a tight pack on the far turn to split horses at the top of the stretch and put away a stubborn Otago through the lane to earn his first stakes victory in Saturday's $150,000 Laurel Futurity at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The 96th running of the Futurity for 2-year-olds was the first of five stakes worth $575,000 in purses on opening weekend of the calendar year-ending fall meet, serving as co-headliner with the $150,000 Selima for 2-year-old fillies. Both races were rained off the grass and contested at a mile on the main track.

Ridden by Feargal Lynch for South Florida-based trainer Antonio Sano, Congruent ($23.40) covered the distance in 1:40.45 over a sloppy and sealed surface to win by 2 ½ lengths. It was the second win in four starts for the gray or roan son of Tapit out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Part the Seas, who fetched $350,000 as a 2-year-old in training at OBS in March.

“I know we have a good horse. He's in the process of maturing and growing,” co-owner Luis Gavignano said. “He's only 2, but he has a great pedigree and since we bought him in Ocala, we knew that we had a good horse. We know that he needs more distance, but he's improving every race.”

Gavignano said neither he nor Sano were concerned when the race was moved off the turf due to heavy overnight rain that lasted into the morning as a residual of Hurricane Ian.

“When I talked to the trainer, that was one of the points. He was very confident. He said, 'I know how he's working, and I think he's going to do good,'” Gavignano said. “One of the things that we saw today, he's not scared to fight. Before he was a little bit. We put on blinkers for his second race because he was a little bit nervous the first time. Knowing that he's fighting some good horses, we know that he's going to be improving.”

Splendor Beauty, one of four horses in the Futurity entered for main track only, got the early jump and led through a quarter-mile in 24.36 seconds and a half in 48.49, pressed to his outside by 20-1 long shot Free Soul. Lynch tucked Congruent in third along the rail, momentarily dropping back to fifth while they awaited room midway around the far turn. Lynch gave Congruent his cue straightening for home, splitting Splendor Beauty to his inside and Free Soul, then engaged in mid-stretch with Otago who had a clear run on the outside, before steadily edging clear.

“They said, 'Don't rush him. Just take your time on him and let him settle and relax,' and he settled beautiful,” Lynch said. “He had a great trip on the rail and went on in between horses. I had to go when I did. I didn't want to, but that gap was getting smaller so I had to take it. It's hard to make up ground on this track today. He's a nice horse.”

Lynch said he also spoke with South Florida-based rider Edgard Zayas about Congruent. Zayas was aboard for each of the colt's first two starts, including a 2 ½-length maiden victory going seven furlongs Aug. 13 at Gulfstream Park.

“He said he's a nice horse and the more you sit against him the more he travels, the more he gives you,” Lynch said.

Otago was a decisive second, 6 ¾ lengths ahead of Freedom Road, who held off late-running Fun Lovin Criminal by a neck. It was another nose back to We Don't Need Roads in fifth, followed by Quincy Cafe, Free Soul, Roan Burgundy and Splendor Beauty. Dataman, Dandy Handyman, Fire Baron and Hendrickson were scratched.

“I saw the list and a lot of great horses have won this race,” Gavignano said. “We're going step by step. Of course, everybody wants to go to the big races but let's enjoy this one and then we'll make plans for the next one.”

During their post-race conversation, Lynch raised the idea of trying Congruent at Keeneland.

“I think he's a good enough horse to go over there,” he said. “If they can find a little spot for him, I wouldn't be afraid to take him anywhere.”

The Futurity, contested as a Grade 1 from 1973-'88 and maintained its graded status through 2004, has a rich history dating back to 1921 inaugural winner Morvich, who would go on to win the 1922 Kentucky Derby. The Futurity has also been won by Triple Crown champions Affirmed, Citation and Secretariat along with Barbaro, In Reality, Honest Pleasure, Quadrangle, Riva Ridge, Spectacular Bid and Tapit.

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