Life Is Good | Horse Racing Free Tips

Constitution Leads WinStar ’23 Roster

With Constitution leading the way at $110,000, WinStar Farm has released the 2023 stud fees for its stallion roster. Constitution, the sire of eight individual runners who have earned 100+ Beyers in 2022, has been represented this year by GIII Peter Pan S. winner 'TDN Rising Star' We the People, GIII Distaff H. winner Glass Ceiling, GIII Greenwood Cup S. winner Ridin With Biden and GIII San Juan Capistrano S. winner Breakpoint (Chi). He was also responsible for a pair of seven-figure yearlings at the Keeneland September sale. Constitution stood the 2022 season at $85,000.

WinStar Farm's roster will be bolstered next year by the addition of multiple Grade I winner and fellow 'Rising Star' Life is Good (Into Mischief), who will stand his first season at $100,000, pending results of the upcoming Breeders' Cup championships.

Also new to the roster in 2023 is track-record setting Nashville (Speightstown), yet another 'Rising Star' who will stand for $15,000. His sire Speightstown will stand for $80,000, down from $90,000 in 2022.

“We are excited about our roster for 2023, and feel we offer a range of quality horses and value to all breeders,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager for WinStar Farm. “We will also be offering a limited number of seasons to Life Is Good before the Breeders' Cup Classic.”

The WinStar roster also includes: Audible, $25,000; Improbable, $25,000; Always Dreaming, $10,000; Global Campaign, $10,000; Independence Hall, $10,000; Outwork, $10,000; Take Charge Indy, $10,000; Tom's d'Etat, $10,000; Yoshida (Jpn), $10,000; Good Samaritan, $7,500; Paynter, $7,500; Promises Fulfilled, $5,000; and Tourist, TBD.

Stallions will be available for showings at WinStar's Open House, Nov. 7-15, during the Keeneland November Sale.

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Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup Team Taking Shape

While life may provide only a handful of certainties, trainer Todd Pletcher showing up with a powerful battalion of runners on Breeders' Cup Day can be counted on to be one of them. The 2022 renewal of the World Championships, slated for Nov. 4-5 at Keeneland, is shaping up to be no different. Since the beginning of the month, the Hall of Famer has annexed seven Grade I or Grade II races, highlighted by Life Is Good (Into Mischief), winner of the Oct. 1 GI Woodward S. Undefeated in four domestic starts this season (he finished fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March), the sparkling winner of the 2021 Dirt Mile was confirmed by Pletcher for a likely showdown with Flightline (Tapit) in next month's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Also trying to give Pletcher his second Classic winner following Vino Rosso in 2019 is Happy Saver (Super Saver), who finished fourth in a competitive renewal of the GII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs Oct. 1. Last season's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup winner hit the board in a trio of preceding starts in 2022, including a second to Flightline in the June 11 GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. and runner-up finish behind Life Is Good in the Aug. 6 GI Whitney S.

Also offering an imposing 1-2 punch on the Breeders' Cup Saturday card are Malathaat (Curlin) and Nest (Curlin), both targeting the GI Distaff. Victorious in last season's GI Kentucky Oaks, Central Bank Ashland S. and GI Alabama S., the Shadwell runner took last Sunday's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, while her year-younger stablemate–victorious in this summer's Alabama and GI CCA Oaks, and runner-up in the GI Belmont S.–romped in the recent GII Beldame S. in New York.

Pletcher previously won the Distaff with eventual Hall of Famer Ashado (2004) and Stopchargingmaria in 2015.

Always dangerous with his juveniles, Pletcher will be represented by no less than a trio of 2-year-olds, including GI Hopefull S. and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity victor Forte (Violence), targeting the GI TVG Juvenile, and GI Frizette S. heroine Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), slated to contest the GI NetJets Juvenile Fillies. Also set to reappear over the championship weekend is Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), who punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with a victory in the Oct. 2 GII Pilgrim S.

Rounding out Team Pletcher's championship team is Annapolis (War Front). Victorious in the Manila S. at Belmont earlier this summer, the son of My Miss Sophia subsequently added a win in the Saranac S. at Saratoga before earning a Mile berth with a score in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile S. at Keeneland Oct. 8.

Already responsible for a dozen Breeders' Cup victories since earning his first win in 2004, Pletcher has finished third or better with 43 runners–registering a 28% in-the-money strike rate–while amassing $22.5 million in earnings.

Given the caliber of runners already engaged for this year's showcase next month, it appears likely that those figures will continue their upward trajectory.

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Martin, Trainer of Tyler’s Tribe, Joins Writers’ Room Podcast

The 2-year-old gelding Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) is the fastest horse in Iowa–maybe the fastest horse ever to come out of the Hawkeye State–and has won his five career starters by a combined 59 3/4 lengths. But does that make him good enough to win a Breeders' Cup race? The Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland was his co-owner and trainer Tim Martin, and when the big event rolls around, he'll be going into the race with confidence.

“For me, it's going to be different, that's for sure,” he said. “I've never had a horse who can run at this level. I'm only doing this because of this horse. I never wanted to just go to the Breeders' Cup. I only wanted to go if I had a legitimate shot. This is a really nice horse, and I think we have a shot. He's fast. He just gallops when everyone else is running. I know there will be some really good horses in there, but we don't know what we've got because no one has ever challenged him.”

How good is Tyler's Tribe, who is an Iowa-bred?

“We just don't know,” he said. “Every time the rider [Prairie Meadows' leading jockey Kylee Jordan] rides him, she comes back and tells us she had more horse, that she wasn't even asking him to run. Every time she says he had more left. So I don't know how fast he could go. He runs with them and then when they get to the lane he just takes off.”

Martin said it's likely that Tyler's Tribe will run in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He has never run on the grass, but Martin doesn't believe the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a good fit because his horse has never run beyond six furlongs.

“I'm leaning toward the short race,” he said of the 5 1/2-furlong heat. “If I were going to experiment with him, I would have liked to do it before a big race. I know he's fast. I know he's super fast, so I'm thinking our best chance is the turf race. I think he will like the turf. There is turf in his pedigree. He's got some siblings who have done well on the turf. I know he's fast and that he can run short. Long? I just don't know. It would be hard to stretch him out right now.”

Martin said he and co-owner Tom Lepic have fielded plenty of offers to sell the horse, but have told everyone the answer is no. One of the reasons is a sentimental one. The horse is named after Lepic's grandson, Tyler, whose long battle with leukemia has turned a corner of late.

“I've had some good offers for him,” Martin said. “But I've never had a horse anywhere close to this in my career, and he's named after Tyler. We never wanted to sell him and it doesn't matter what the offers have been. We had a couple offers for $500,000. They could have offered $1 million. We still wouldn't be interested. He's not for sale. We're having fun and I've always said you can't put a price on fun.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the Writer's Room unveiled its new lineup, which consists of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman. The trio went over last week's big races and the controversy surrounding Sonny Leon and his ride aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the GII Lukas Classic S. and his subsequent suspension. The win by Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Woodward S. was also part of the discussion, with Moss saying the race may have been better than it looked at first glance. The team also reviewed the GI Awesome Again S., won by Defunded (Dialed In), and Christophe Soumillion's antics in France and looked ahead at this weekend's blockbuster lineup of graded stakes and preps for the Breeders' Cup.

Click here to watch the show or click here for the audio-only version.

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Into Mischief’s Life Is Good Wires Woodward

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), backed like he couldn't lose the GI Woodward S. at Belmont at the Big A, was briefly challenged by longshot Law Professor (Constitution) before ultimately shutting the door on that foe and splashing home a 1 1/4-length winner Saturday. The winner's stablemate Keepmeinmind (Laoban) was third in the four-horse affair.

Perfect in three prior Stateside starts this season, with a lone blemish a fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup in March, the China Horse Club and WinStar Farm representative was a rare 1-9 on the morning line and garnered $364,099 of the $409,486 wagered to win on the nine-furlong event.

Away on top and quickly in command, Life Is Good was kept well off the inside by Irad Ortiz, Jr. as he doled out splits of :24.40, :48.60 and 1:13.07 over the sloppy track. Ortiz peeked back heading for home to find Law Professor in hot pursuit, and he stepped on the gas and got out the whip for the stretch drive. Law Professor–a winner of the rained-off GII Santa Anita Mathis Mile S. last December and most recently the restricted Tapit S. at Kentucky Downs Sept. 1 in his first start for Rob Atras–continued to keep Life Is Good honest to midstretch, but the chalk called on his class and eventually edged away while kept to task by Ortiz.

“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,” Ortiz said. “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.”

With his only other defeat a neck second to formidable champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in last year's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., Life Is Good concluded his sophomore season with a romp in the GI Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile S. at Del Mar in November and picked right up where he left off when handling Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) in that one's swan song in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in January. He faded to fourth behind Country Grammer (Tonalist) after setting the pace in the 10-furlong Dubai World Cup, but bounced back in Belmont's seven-furlong John A. Nerud S. July 2 before stretching back out to 1 1/8 miles to handle an accomplished bunch in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. Aug. 6.

“You could tell going into the first turn he had his ears straight up and was really relaxed,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “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 biggergoal in five weeks, so we tried to balance that out the best we could.”

Focus will now shift to Keeneland, where Life Is Good could take on unbeaten divisional leader Flightline (Tapit) in the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Classic–surely the route fans are rooting for–or defend his title in the Dirt Mile.

“The plan is to probably ship on Monday afternoon to Keeneland,” Pletcher noted.

It was an exacta of rooting interests for WinStar Farm, which also stands the runner-up's sire.

“Constitutions, you never take them lightly and Law Professor ran the race of his life,” said WinStar's Elliott Walden. “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.”

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
WOODWARD S.-GI, $465,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:49.57, sy.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 126, 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. $275,000. Lifetime Record:
11-9-1-0, $4,361,700. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Law Professor, 122, g, 4, Constitution–Haunted Heroine, by
Ghostzapper. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Twin Creeks Racing
Stables, LLC; B-Twin Creeks Farm (KY); T-Rob Atras. $100,000.
3–Keepmeinmind, 122, c, 4, Laoban–Inclination, by
Victory Gallop. O-Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith &
Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Southern Equine Stables, LLC (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $60,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 10 1/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 0.05, 26.75, 13.70.
Also Ran: Informative. Scratched: Thomas Shelby.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.

Pedigree Notes:

The second foal to race out of Beach Walk, a $435,000 KEESEP yearling who went 0-for-5 in her career, Life Is Good is one of 115 stakes victors, 54 graded stakes winners and 11 Grade I conquerors for Into Mischief. His second dam Bonnie Blue Flag was runner-up in the 2010 GI Test S. and is a half-sister to MGISW Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). Beach Walk has an unraced juvenile filly named Living Good (Blame), a yearling colt by Candy Ride (Arg) and a full-brother to Life Is Good foaled Mar. 31. She returned to Into Mischief for 2023.

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