Multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Good greeted the Saratoga sunrise on Friday, heading to the main track at 5:45 a.m. for a five-furlong move in 1:02.05 for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.
Piloted by exercise rider Amelia Green, NYRA clockers caught the talented Into Mischief bay through a three-eighths split in :38 flat before an authoritative gallop out in 1:14.80 for three quarters, 1:27.60 for seven-eighths and 1:40.80 for one mile.
Pletcher said he was more than pleased with the work from Life Is Good, who registered a career-best 112 Beyer Speed Figure in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud on July 2 at Belmont last out.
“It's what we've come to expect from him every breeze,” Pletcher said. “It looks like he's going effortlessly, keeps going on the gallop out. She had to reach up and grab him at the half-mile pole galloping out just to get him pulled up. He's a super mover, efficient and on cruise control.”
Owned by WinStar Farm and CHC Inc., Life Is Good captured last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park. Through a record of 9-7-1-0 and earnings in excess of $3.5 million, Life Is Good has garnered seven triple digit speed figures.
Life Is Good is targeting the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 6, a “Win And You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Pletcher breezed a handful of horses on the Oklahoma turf training course Friday for possible next out stakes outings, including multiple graded stakes winner Wit, who blitzed through a bullet half-mile in 47.95 seconds.
Wit, who went in company with Argentinian Group 1-winner Scotish Star, won his sophomore debut in the Grade 3 Bay Shore in April at Aqueduct before finishing a distant fourth in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on Belmont Stakes Day.
The son of second crop sire Practical Joke, out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Numero d'Oro, has yet to race on turf, but Pletcher said the strong breeze could propel Wit to the Grade 2, $200,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on August 5 at Saratoga.
“I thought it was awfully good. We'll have to consider some options,” Pletcher said. “Every once in a while, you put one on the grass and see a big move forward and I think that's what we saw today.”
“The Medaglia d'Oro bottom side kind of made you think about [turf], it was mainly just about giving him a try on it,” Pletcher said. “There was enough pedigree that suggested it could work. It certainly looked like he took it all in and enjoyed himself out there.”
Bass Racing's homebred Annapolis went five furlongs in 1:01.11 in company with blue blooded first-out maiden winner Capensis, a sophomore son of Tapit.
Annapolis won the Manila last out on July 4 after finishing second as the favorite in his seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Penn Mile contested over soft going on June 3.
Pletcher said Friday's breeze should have Annapolis on target for the 1 3/16-mile Grade 1, $1 million Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 6.
“I thought both horses went really well,” Pletcher said. “We were unfortunate off the layoff to catch the Penn Mile on a bottomless ground and I thought he was courageous to run as well as he did on ground that was awfully hard to accelerate on. It seemed to move him forward and now with two races under his belt, I think we can stretch him out.”
Capensis, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Robert V. LaPenta, Gainesway Stable, Winchell Thoroughbred and Stonestreet Stables, romped to a five-length debut score against older company traveling 1 1/16-miles on July 2 over the Belmont turf.
Pletcher said Capensis could target either an allowance or the Grade 2, National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
“We've got a couple of options,” Pletcher said. “I think he showed graded stakes ability in his debut. The question is if we want a little more seasoning before jumping into a stake or just go right at it.”
Capensis was purchased for $2 million from the Eaton Sales consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. By Tapit, he is out of the Grade 1-winning Unbridled's Song broodmare Tara's Tango.
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