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Will Life Is Good and Flightline Meet? Maybe

It's not too early to lump Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in with some of the best horses of the modern era. That's how good he was Saturday at Gulfstream when he dominated over a field that included the soon-to-be-named 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in what was nothing less than a sensational performance.

But is he even the best horse in training?

It's a rare and special time for horse racing, which has been blessed with not just one but two horses who appear to be generational talents who could go down as among the best that ever raced.

The other, of course, is Flightline (Tapit), the fabulously talented but lightly raced $1-million yearling buy whose effortless win in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. drew comparisons to superstars like Ghostzapper (Awesome Again). He was given a 118 Beyer in the Malibu win, better than Life Is Good's best figure, which is the 110 Beyer he picked up in the Pegasus.

Who's better? The debate has already begun, but it's a question that can only be answered on the racetrack. Unfortunately, the two aren't exactly on a collision course to meet.

Flightline returned to the work tab Sunday at Santa Anita. In his first work since Dec. 19, a week before the Malibu, he went four furlongs in 47.80. Afterward, trainer John Sadler told the Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman that Flightline would start next in the Mar. 5 GII San Carlos S. at seven furlongs. The next start after that will likely be the GI Metropolitan H. to be run June 11.

As for Life Is Good, his next start will likely come in the Mar. 26 G1 Dubai World Cup.

“We're going to huddle up this week and discuss it,” said Elliott Walden, the president and CEO of racing operations for WinStar Farm, the co-owner of Life Is Good. “He will not run in the Saudi Cup, back in four weeks. So, Dubai would be the next option. We're going to see how he comes back and then start to map out the whole year.”

So far as the Met Mile goes, Walden wouldn't rule it out, but said that, if Life Is Good is to run in Dubai, that may eliminate the Met Mile from consideration. The next spot that could bring Flightline and Life Is Good together is the GI Whitney S. Sadler has listed that as a possible start for Flightline and Walden said Sunday it is a race that is also under consideration for Life Is Good. If all else fails, there is always the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, a race both stars are pointing toward.

“It would be fabulous if those two were to meet,” Walden said. “It would be great for horse racing. I think it's more a question of when than if. We haven't ducked anybody. We said right after the Dirt Mile what we were planning on doing. We want to do right by our horse and I know John Sadler wants to do right by his horse. He's a tremendous trainer. At some point they will meet and it will be great for racing.”

Life Is Good made his first three starts for trainer Bob Baffert. When Baffert ran into problems with the New York Racing Association, which has been attempting to suspend him, Life Is Good was transferred to Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

“I can't think of a horse [I trained] better than him,” Pletcher said following the Pegasus.

“To me, Life Is Good is right up there with Justify,” Walden said. “Justify won the Triple Crown and was undefeated. Bob [Baffert] early on compared him to American Pharoah and Justify. You think about all of the good horses Bob has had and all the good horses Todd has had and it's pretty amazing to think he's in that elite company.”

Walden, a former trainer, sees in Life Is Good characteristics that set him apart from most every other horse.

“The thing that separates Life is Good from the rest of the good horses I've been around is the fact that he never had a bad day,” he said. “Most horses will have an average workout from time to time, even though they are a very good horses, or they might look flat. This horse has never had a bad day on the racetrack. That's something, the more I've been around and the more I see, that is a characteristic of the great ones.”

That Life Is Good, who was the 4-5 favorite under Irad Ortiz, Jr., won was hardly a surprise, but few could have imagined that he could have out-sprinted a horse as quick as Knicks Go and open up by 3 1/2 lengths on his rival. Walden said the plan was to do what it took to get the lead.

“That was the game plan,” Walden said. “I know people say that's hard to fathom that, but this horse was in front of Jackie's Warrior at Saratoga in the Allen Jerkens. Why wouldn't he be in front of Knicks Go? I know Knicks Go is a great horse and is a deserving champion, but I didn't have any doubt he could be up there with Knicks Go. I'm not saying I thought he'd be three or four lengths in front of him, but I never thought he'd take a back seat to his speed, just because of what happened at Saratoga. To be in front of Jackie's Warrior like he was, that showed the speed and athleticism that Life Is Good has.”

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Pletcher, Ortiz Soar on Pegasus Day

HALLANDALE, FL–Heading into Saturday's Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream, it wasn't much of a stretch to think that trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. could walk away the winners of both Pegasus features of the afternoon. However, considering the obstacles facing them, one had to concede that it might be a bit too tall of an order. The GI Pegasus World Cup Turf contender Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) was coming off a massive layoff, 239 days to be exact, and Life Is Good (Into Mischief), while freakishly fast and seemingly yet to reach his full potential, had to face the likes of likely Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) in the day's feature, the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Throw into the mix that Ortiz could still see a knee fracture sustained Jan. 7 in the rearview mirror, forcing him to the sidelines for three weeks and putting him woefully close to missing the big day altogether. However, on the big day, 'The Colonel' put it all together to defend his title, while Life Is Good put on a performance that left spectators as wowed as his Breeders' Cup win last fall. And as WinStar Farm's Kenny Troutt, who campaigns Life Is Good with China Horse Club, accurately pointed out during the post-race press conference, there must have been a higher force at play, allowing the stars to align on the big day.

“It's just been a blessing,” said Trout. “God has really, really helped us. This horse here has just been really special…This horse is really one of the best horses we've ever had. He's just got all the talent there is.”

Keeping to the theme, Ortiz added, “Thank God, first of all. Thank God for my health. Also, a couple doctors told me I could make it. My friend Dr. Rafael Lopez told me to stay positive and told me I could do it.”

Sent off the slight favorite over Knicks Go, Life Is Good rushed out to take the lead despite an awkward step out of stall 4. And he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer, quickly spurting off to an uncontested quarter in :23.12 as Knicks Go was content to survey the affair from a second, several lengths behind. Still cruising up front following a :46.35 half mile, the powerful bay was given a couple of jiggles of encouragement approaching the quarter pole. Drifting out well wide turning into the homestretch as his rivals pursued in vain, the 4-year-old showed what all the pre-race hype was about, crossing the a geared-down 3 1/4-lengths ahead of Knicks Go, who finished a length ahead of Stiletto Boy (Shackleford). Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) was fourth and GI Belmont S. winner Sir Winston (Awesome Again) was fifth.

“We were committed to letting him run his race,” said Pletcher, who named the G1 Dubai World Cup in March as Life is Good's likely next target. “You know Knicks Go is a fast horse. We didn't know for sure how it was going to play out. There was the potential for a speed duel there. He broke and I didn't think his first step was great, but he recovered pretty quickly and got to the turn in good shape. Knicks Go maybe didn't bounce away as quick as he does sometimes, so we kind of had the advantage at that point.”

Added Ortiz, “I respect [Knicks Go] a lot. I thought it was going to be a match race. But going into the first turn, my horse was so fast, so I just let him do his thing. He went to the first turn a little fast. I never thought I would be in front like that. When I looked around, I didn't see anybody. Todd told me to use my judgement. He relaxed so well, and I couldn't wait to let him run. He was going fast, but he was doing it the right way.”

Commenting on his ride aboard last fall's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, Joel Rosario said, “I thought the trip would be fine. We thought maybe we'd be on the lead. I thought Life Is Good probably had a little more speed than me. He ran his race. They came over a little bit on the first turn, so I had to kind of just take him outside a little bit and let him relax from there, and hopefully, at some point, the horse would come back a little bit But he didn't come back. He just kept going.”

Brad Cox added, “The plan was definitely to go. I wanted to– we just got outrun. I talked to Joel and he said he handled the track fine. He said a couple on his outside were moving along pretty good and it kind of got a little tight [early], so he took him back off of it a little bit and obviously, the winner was just galloping on the lead.”

Cox continued, “He's been super good to us. We're proud of him and we're happy and excited that he's retiring sound and healthy and I look forward to training some of his babies in a couple of years. He's six; it's time for him to go off to stud. Hopefully, he'll pass on his heart and determination and be a good sire.”

Purchased for $525,000 by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm at the Keeneland September Sale, Life Is Good kicked off his career with Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and his talent became clear early. He stamped himself an exciting GI Kentucky Derby prospect with a TDN Rising Star-earning performance when scoring by 9 1/2 length at Del Mar in the fall of 2020. The following spring, he annexed the GIII Sham S. and GII San Felipe S.-besting subsequent Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protanico) in both those starts.

Life is Good was knocked off the Derby trail–and forced to miss the entire Triple Crown series–after a chip was discovered in his left hind ankle after a breeze in preparation for the GI Santa Anita Derby. The chip was minor, but required surgery and time off.

Transferred to Pletcher thereafter, the bay was narrowly beaten by Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga before taking on his elders for the first time and coming out much the best in the Sept. 25 GII Kelso H. at Belmont. All of those performances appeared to be an appetizer for what was to come next. The well-backed favorite in the GI Big Ass Fans GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar Nov. 6, the Gary and Mary West-bred colt rolled home a scintillating 5 3/4-length winner.

Added Pletcher, “I don't want to get in trouble with any other owners I have trained for, [but] I can't think of one that is better than him. What makes him so special is his ability to run fast, the high cruising speed and [then] keep going. He's just got tremendous mechanics. Just a phenomenal talent.”

Pedigree Notes:
North America's leading sire of 2021 combined with North America's leading broodmare sire of 2021–what's not to like? Life Is Good is a product of the oldest formula in the books: breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best. He is one of Into Mischief's 45 graded winners and 106 black-type winners, as well as one of the 119 stakes winners out of Distorted Humor's daughters. MGISW Practical Joke, MGSW Fulsome, and four other listed winners all follow the identical formula of Into Mischief over Distorted Humor, as do another four graded-placed winners.

Beach Walk has a 2-year-old filly by Blame, a yearling colt by Candy Ride (Arg), and was bred back to Into Mischief. She traces directly to French and American blue hen Frizette (Hamburg), her 11th dam, whose descendants include leading French sire of yesteryear Tourbillon (Fr) and leading American sires of more recent decades, including Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL S. PRESENTED BY 1/ST BET-GI, $2,941,500, Gulfstream, 1-29, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.91, ft.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 123, c, 4, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Bonnie Blue Flag, by Mineshaft
                3rd Dam: Tap Your Feet, by Dixieland Band
'TDN Rising Star' ($525,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-CHC Inc. &
WinStar Farm LLC; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $1,755,000. Lifetime
Record: 7-6-1-0, $2,814,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple
Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Knicks Go, 123, h, 6, Paynter–Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker.
($40,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $87,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Korea
Racing Authority; B-Angie Moore (MD); T-Brad H. Cox.
$585,000.
3–Stilleto Boy, 123, g, 4, Shackleford–Rosie's Ransom, by
Marquetry. ($420,000 3yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Steve Moger;
B-John & Iveta Kerber (KY); T-Ed Moger, Jr. $292,500.
Margins: 3 1/4, 1, 4 3/4. Odds: 0.80, 0.90, 26.50.
Also Ran: Endorsed, Sir Winston, Chess Chief, Commandeer, Title Ready, Empty Tomb. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Buffolo Joins CHC as Part of Organizational Restructuring

The China Horse Club has accomplished quite a bit in its 10 years of existence. They campaigned a Triple Crown winner, a champion filly and a slew of other Grade I winners. Additionally, they've bred several black-type winners, including top-level scorers Kimari (Munnings) and Valiance (Tapit), and sold multiple seven-figure yearlings. And that is just in the United States. Teo Ah Khing's organization is equally accomplished in Australia and Europe and continuously growing.

Due to this rapid growth and plethora of achievements, the organization has been restructured to better suit the needs of its board, members and partners. Instead of a singular COO, a position previously filled by the U.S.-based Michael Wallace, the China Horse Club now has key representatives in each of its three major regions. The heads of Australasia, Michael Smith, and Europe, Matt Holdsworth, were promoted from within the company, but their U.S. representative is a new hire, Fabricio Buffolo.

“Over the last two years, the world has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and we, quite fluidly, moved our management team around the world,” said Eden Harrington, China Horse Club's Vice President. “One thing we realized in this post-Covid world we are in, is that we do see a heightened importance in having dedicated people in each region to assist our members and partners there, as well as, address and adapt to regional opportunities and issues. We have shifted our structure slightly so we have that focus.”

He continued, “The other component is with the addition of Mr. Fabricio Buffolo, we actually expanded our focus from just the U.S. to all of the Americas because of his background and connections in the Caribbean, Latin America, Central and South America.”

Buffolo started his career in the U.S. with Godolphin. He then served as General Manager of Besilu Stables and most recently held the position of Executive Director of Don Alberto Corporation.

“We reached out to a number of our key partners and people who we respect for opinions and Fabricio was widely promoted,” Harrington said. “The respect that he has held within the industry is very important. Having someone we can tap into of that caliber is not only important for running our operations, but also for maintaining relationships with our partners and our members. To have someone of Fabricio's excellence in not only understanding different markets, but being able to handle high-level relationships is paramount to what we do. Having someone who understands the rich history of Latin America and has relationships down there is also important.”

Buffolo will be responsible for the management of China Horse Club's equine portfolio, including selecting new stock, working with trainers on race plans, matings, accessing which stock should be sold at which sales and managing the growing broodmare band. He will also be tasked with maintaining and growing relationships with the organization's members, partners and vendors.

“The racing and breeding arms have grown and it does require somebody there who is exceedingly talented and vigilant and we certainly believe we have somebody who meets our requirements to that end,” Harrington said. “We also need someone who will access new opportunities. We always want to be on the look out and ahead of the curve.”

Buffolo will represent the China Horse Club for the first time at this weekend's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational, where their GI Breeders' Cup Dirt mile winner Life is Good (Into Mischief) is set to face off with likely Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter).

“Life is Good will run in the China Horse Club silks this weekend which is fantastic,” said Harrington, who will join Buffolo at Gulfstream, while Teo remains in Australia for the upcoming sale. “We hope he performs at his absolute best and if that allows him to win that is above and beyond. The current plan is he will proceed to the [G1] Dubai World Cup if he comes out in good order. One of our companies Teo Ah Khing Design Consultants designed and built the Meydan grandstand. So to have a lead runner compete in the Dubai World Cup at a facility our group was so instrumental in designing and building would have great meaning.”

Harrington also provided an update on one of the China Horse Club's other key runners Americanrevolution (Constitution). The flashy chestnut concluded a stellar 2021 with a victory in the GI Cigar Mile and is currently getting some R&R before gearing up for his 2022 campaign.

“Americanrevolution went from winning a maiden to being a Grade I winner at the end of the year, so that was exceptional,” Harrington said. “Looking ahead, we would love to have two runners on Breeders' Cup day in 2022 with Life is Good and Americanrevolution. A lot has to go right between now and then, but we believe they are two horses worthy of those aspirations.”

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Michael Wallace to Leave CHC

Michael Wallace, the Chief Operating Officer of the China Horse Club, will resign from that position effective Dec. 31, he said in a phone call Thursday. The bloodstock agent has been with the global Thoroughbred firm for eight years, since March, 2014.

“Obviously, it has been a wonderful run with them, from a start-up company to what they are today in a period of eight years,” said the New Zealand native. “It has been a very interesting and rewarding experience. Obviously, we've experienced plenty of highs, including 27 individual Grade or Group I winners that have won 44 Grade/Group 1 races, with five Eclipse Awards in there. We have had Horses of the Year in Australia, America and in Europe, and obviously, Justify, the Triple Crown winner, who might be the epitome of it all.”

Under Wallace's direction, the CHC campaigned the likes of Abel Tasman (Quality Road), Audible (Into Mischief), Australia (GB), Yoshida (Jpn), Life Is Good (Into Mischief), Improbable, and more.

Wallace said that he would most likely return to being an independent bloodstock agent. “I'm going to take some time and think about it. But obviously, I've got a mortgage to pay and a family to look after. Before the China Horse Club, I was an independent and I'm going to go back to being an agent, working the world again, and seeing what business I can find. I would hope that my record would speak for itself and that someone will want to use my services.”

Said Wallace, “I am very appreciative of the opportunity that was afforded me as a young man in New Zealand. That position, on a global scale, was one that came with great responsibility and pressure, but it was a wonderful adventure and a new opportunity to experience new places and new cultures. But everything comes to an end; I felt it was time for a new challenge, and I aim to challenge myself.”

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