Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Derby Prep: Dazzling Maiden Winner Life Is Good Stretches Out In Saturday’s Sham Stakes

A dazzling 9 ½ length maiden winner in his first start, Bob Baffert's Life Is Good will no doubt be a short priced favorite as he stretches out to a flat mile and heads a field of five sophomores in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

Named in honor of the winner of the 1973 Santa Anita Derby, the Sham winner will receive 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, with four to second, two to third and one Derby qualifying point to the fourth place finisher.

Off at 1-5 with Mike Smith up in a field of five going 6 ½ furlongs on Nov. 22 at Del Mar, Life Is Good earned a lofty 91 Beyer Speed figure in his maiden win, easily best of those competing in the Sham. Purchased as a Keeneland September Yearling for $525,000, he made the lead easily through splits of 21.80, 44.80 and 1:09 flat en route to a smashing 9 ½ length score while getting the distance in 1:15.40.

Bred in Kentucky by Gary and Mary West, Life Is Good is by top stallion Into Mischief and is out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk, who was winless in five starts. Owned by China Horse Club, Inc. and WinStar Farm, Life Is Good will be making his second start as he tries to provide Baffert, who won the 2020 Sham with eventual Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, with his record seventh Sham Stakes winner.

Baffert will also be represented by first-out maiden winner Medina Spirit, who sped to a three length score going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos on Dec. 11 while earning a 76 Beyer.

The John Shirreffs-conditioned Parnelli, a $500,000 Keeneland September Yearling, was attentive to the early pace en route to a huge 5 ¾ length maiden win as the 1-5 favorite going a flat mile at Del Mar on Nov. 28. Owned by Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable, Parnelli, who is by Quality Road, out of the unraced Bernardini mare Sip Sip, will likely set a close second to Life Is Good in what will be his fifth start. Second in his first three assignments, the last two at one mile, Parnelli earned a 79 Beyer in breaking his maiden and will be ridden back by Drayden Van Dyke.

Shirreffs will also saddle Waspirant, who also broke his maiden at one mile, winning by three quarters of a lengths after stalking the pace on Aug. 29 at Del Mar with regular rider Umberto Rispoli. Subsequently a well beaten fourth in the G1 American Pharoah going a mile and one sixteenth here Sept. 26, he'll be making his fourth start and third consecutive try at two turns in the Sham.

Owned and bred by Pam and Martin Wygod, Waspirant is by Union Rags out of the Storm Cat mare Life is Sweet, who was a multiple Grade I stakes winning earner of more than $1.8 million.

A first-out maiden $32,000 claiming winner going 5 ½ furlongs here on Oct. 12, trainer Andrew Lerner's Uncle Boogie came back to be a solid second in a first condition allowance going 5 ½ furlongs as the even money favorite at Del Mar Oct. 31. Most recently second to runaway winner Red Flag in the G3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs Nov. 15, Uncle Boogie, a Florida-bred colt by Ride On Curlin who was purchased for $38,000 at an Ocala Sales 2-year-old in training sale in July, retains the services of Flavien Prat will likely seek a stalking trip in his first try around two turns. Owned by Eric Homme, he'll be making his fourth overall start.

THE G3 SHAM STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

Medina Spirit—Abel Cedillo—120
Waspirant—Umberto Rispoli—120
Parnelli—Drayden Van Dyke—120
Uncle Boogie—Flavien Prat—120
Life Is Good—Mike Smith—120

First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. All of Santa Anita's races are offered free of charge at santaanita.com/live and fans can watch and wager at 1st.com/Bet.

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‘Looking Forward To Running Her Longer’: Gulf Coast Gets Class Test In Friday’s Cash Run Stakes

WinStar Stablemates Racing's Gulf Coast, stakes-placed in one of two juvenile starts, will step up and stretch out for her sophomore debut in Friday's $75,000 Cash Run at Gulfstream Park.

The one-mile Cash Run for 3-year-old fillies is among three $75,000 stakes on the New Year's Day program along with a pair of five-furlong turf sprints, the Abundantia for fillies and mares 4 and older and the Janus for 4-year-olds and up featuring the 7-year-old debut of multiple graded-stakes winner Imprimis.

First race post time is 12:05 p.m.

Gulf Coast, a bay daughter of 2012 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Union Rags, will be racing beyond six furlongs for the first time in the Cash Run, her second straight stakes after running second in the Sandpiper Dec. 5 at Tampa Bay Downs, overcoming some early trouble to get within two lengths of the winner.

The Sandpiper came barely three weeks after Gulf Coast debuted with a come-from-behind half-length maiden special weight triumph at Indiana Downs.

“She ran huge there. She wasn't settled perfectly in the gate and broke maybe a step slow and got bumped pretty hard,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “We don't think the six furlongs is what she wants to do but, at that point, the black type is very attractive.

“She's very well-bred and she was showing all the signs she was ready to run again,” he added. “We decided to go in there and had a rough trip. Were we the best? Maybe, but I think she showed us that she can take the kickback [and] she can come from out of it, so we're really looking forward to running her longer.”

Purchased for $240,000 as a yearling in September 2019 and sold again for $300,000 as a 2-year-old in training in March, Gulf Coast began her career on the West Coast with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Out of the Candy Ride mare Sweet Success, she trained at Los Alamitos and Santa Anita before being sent to Brisset in Kentucky.

“She seemed like she was working OK when she was at Los Alamitos and when [Baffert] moved back to Santa Anita maybe she didn't like the track, but it didn't look like she was working good enough to run there. So, the ownership and Mr. Baffert decided to send her to us,” Brisset said.

“She actually arrived at our Turfway Park division first, thinking maybe we would run her there,” he added. “I worked her on the synthetic and I don't think she really cared for it, so we just decided to run her at Indiana and she won first time out pretty impressive.”

Brisset said despite her belated start, he wasn't surprised that Gulf Coast won first time out.

“Her works at Santa Anita were good enough where she was fit enough off the plane. I just worked her once and she went an easy three-eighths and just went in,” he said. “She just was showing every sign she was ready to run. Where she belonged we did not know and Indiana was a really good spot. We gave her a chance to show what she can do and she did it. She won pretty nice.”

Brisset was aboard when Gulf Coast breezed four furlongs in 48.55 seconds Dec. 23 at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, the fastest of 11 horses. Two-time defending Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount in the Cash Run from Post 2 in a field of nine.

“We were keeping all our options open in the coming stakes for 3-year-olds. Actually the Cash Run was not really in the plans at first, but when the nominations came out, we thought we were pretty competitive in there,” Brisset said. “Then we worked her and she worked extremely good, and she came out of the work in good shape. We've got Irad, so all the signs are going where we should run. When you have a good jock and you have a horse show you she's doing good I just think it's time to go.”

Brisset said the Cash Run, named for the multiple graded-stakes winning mare whose victories included the 1999 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Gulfstream, is an ideal spot to launch Gulf Coast's season.

“We even feel like she got bigger and stronger and the extra time has been really good for her. I think we're going to bring her there with some confidence and see where she belongs,” he said. “If we think the added distance is going to be good for her, we kind of want to find out in the next two months where to point after that. So, Friday is going to be a good test distance-wise and probably quality-wise, too. She's going to have to face some better fillies, I'm sure, but we will bring her there and see what happens.”

Gulf Coast will face a pair of stakes winners in Quinoa Tifah and the undefeated Shea D Summer. Arindel's Quinoa Tifah won twice in two starts over Gulfstream's main track in 2020 including the seven-furlong Our Dear Peggy in front-running fashion Sept. 26 over Con Lima, who is being pointed to the $75,000 Ginger Brew on turf Jan. 2 at Gulfstream.

Luis Saez rides Quinoa Tifah for trainer Juan Alvarado from Post 6 at co-topweight of 122 pounds.

Shea D Boy's Stable's Shea D Summer, by Summer Front, will try open company for the first time after winning her only two starts of 2020, both against fellow Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park West. She debuted Oct. 7 with a one-length triumph going six furlongs and returned to capture the 6 ½-furlong Juvenile Fillies Sprint Nov. 14 over a sloppy track.

Jose Ortiz gets the riding assignment on Shea D Summer from Post 1.

Rounding out the field are last out maiden special weight winners Adios Trippi, Gladys, Honorifique and Orbs Baby Girl; Lucifers Lair, unraced since running last of five in the Adirondack (G2) Aug. 12 at Saratoga; and Sky Proposal, most recently third to Shea D Summer in the Juvenile Fillies Sprint.

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Unproven Life Is Good Tops Early Kentucky Derby Odds Ahead Of Likely Sham Start

With the Road to the Kentucky Derby completed until 2021, current standings at betonline.ag have the leader as 10-1 favorite Life Is Good followed by Essential Quality at12-1. While interesting, there are still 27 qualifying races left in the months between now and the first weekend in May.

The next Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool will take place Jan. 22 – Jan. 24.

Bob Baffert-trained Life Is Good is by leading sire Into Mischief, who also sired 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. The unproven colt has only had one start in which he broke his maiden with a wire-to-wire win by 9 1/2 lengths. The 2-year-old set lively fractions of :21.80, :44.84, 1:09.08, and a final time of 1:15.50 for the 6 1/2 furlong maiden special weight at Del Mar on Nov. 22. He was ridden by two-time Kentucky Derby winner Mike Smith. Life Is Good is expected to make his next start in the G3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 2, and finished at 5-1 in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool.

Following closely behind on the 2021 Kentucky Derby Odds list is Breeder's Cup Juvenile and Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner, Essential Quality. The son of Tapit is currently undefeated in three starts and is expected to make his next start sometime in February. Trained by Brad Cox and owned by Godolphin LLC, Essential Quality finished at 8-1 in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool.

The entire 2021 Kentucky Derby Odds List, per betonline.ag, is as follows:

Life Is Good 10/1

Essential Quality 12/1

Keepmeinmind 20/1

Prime Factor 20/1

Jackie's Warrior 25/1

Mandaloun 25/1

Senor Buscador 25/1

Spielberg 25/1

Highly Motivated 28/1

Caddo River 33/1

Classier 33/1

Greatest Honour 33/1

Hot Rod Charlie 33/1

Prate 33/1

Red Flag 33/1

Amount 50/1

Dr. Schivel 50/1

Freedom Fighter 50/1

Get Her Number 50/1

Known Agenda 50/1

Olympiad 50/1

Reinvestment Risk 50/1

Savile Row 50/1

Huntsinger 66/1

Prisoner 66/1

Sittin On Go 66/1

Team Merchants 66/1

Founder 100/1

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Baffert On Charlatan’s Malibu: ‘He Exceeded Our Expectations’

It was business as usual Sunday morning for Bob Baffert, less than 24 hours after Charlatan demolished his rivals with a 4 ½-length victory in the Runhappy Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., the final Grade 1 race of a tumultuous 2020.

It was the 16th Grade 1 win of the year for Baffert, four more than runner-up Chad Brown, enhancing the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer's chances for an Eclipse Award, although personal triumphs are not high on his priority list.

But with Authentic's Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic victories and pending Horse of the Year honors a mere formality, Baffert assuredly has the credentials to merit such a singular honor.

But this morning it was all about the horse.

“He came back great,” Baffert said of Charlatan, a Speightstown colt making his first start since May 2, when he crossed the wire first by six lengths in the first division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, only to be disqualified on a medication violation that has been appealed.

“We haven't really decided what we're going to do with him yet,” said Baffert. “It's too early. We'll give it a week.

“I thought he was going to need the race but he was a lot readier than I thought. We were hoping he would pick up where he left off, and he exceeded our expectations.

“He's just a brilliant horse. He came out of it in really good shape so we're excited. It was a good way to cap off the year.”

Now it's on to 2021, and Baffert wasn't letting the grass grow under his feet, so to speak.

“I breezed a lot of good horses today,” he said, among them Life Is Good, sensational winner by 9 ½ lengths of his debut race Nov. 22 by 9 ½ lengths for owner China Horse Club, Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC. The $525,000 son of Into Mischief is among five Baffert trainees nominated to Saturday's Grade 3 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile.

Life Is Good went six furlongs in a bullet 1:10.60. In all, Baffert supervised 14 recorded works this morning.

“The track was really good today,” he said. “It was faster and they were getting over it good. It had a lot of bounce to it. We're still debating whether Life Is Good will go in the Sham or the seven-eighths (the G2 San Vicente Stakes on Feb. 7). I have to talk to Elliott Walden first.”

Walden is president and CEO of racing operations at WinStar, near Versailles, Ky.

Baffert does plan to enter debut winner Medina Spirit in the Sham.The Florida-bred son of Protonico owned by Zedan Racing Stables Inc. was a three-length winner going 5 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos on Dec. 11 under Abel Cedillo. Medina Spirit breezed five furlongs today in 1:02.

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