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Life Is Good Headlines Star-Studded Saturday of Racing

Holiday weekends are often synonymous with exciting race cards and this Fourth of July weekend is no exception with a dozen graded events on tap Saturday that include some of racing's best. The highlight of the day's action is the return of 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), who is making his first start back since finishing fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26 in Belmont's GII John A. Nerud S.

A dominant winner of last year's GII Kelso H. and GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and this term's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., Life Is Good spent some time at WinStar after his return from Dubai and has been breezing steadily at Belmont for Pletcher since Memorial Day weekend. Flavien Prat climbs aboard the fleet-footed bay for the first time Saturday.

“Flavien has proven he rides really well in any occasion,” said Pletcher, who indicated this race is a prep for the GI Whitney S. “There might be some similarities to Flightline (Tapit) and Life Is Good, but we'll have a talk about the horse a little bit. He's got kind of a quiet touch, so that should suit him well.”

While Life Is Good will certainly be the heavy favorite, there is one member of this five-horse field who could give him a run for his money. Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) kicked off 2022 with a trio of seemingly effortless victories in the GIII Fred Hooper S., GII Gulfstream Park Mile and GI Carter H. He received a 114 Beyer Speed Figure for that win, which trumps Life Is Good's best figure of 110 in the Pegasus. The bay enters this off a third-place finish behind unbeaten sensation Flightline in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Met Mile June 11 and Jose Ortiz takes over the controls from Junior Alvarado, who will be riding for trainer Bill Mott in Kentucky.

The Nerud certainly looks like a match race between these two formidable foes as Repo Rocks (Tapiture), Harvard (Pioneerof the Nile) and War Tocsin (Violence) are overmatched to say the least.

Also on tap at Belmont Saturday is the GIII Dwyer S. for sophomore colts. The regally bred Charge It (Tapit) looks to rebound in this cutback in trip after a poor effort in the GI Kentucky Derby, where he finished 17th. The 'TDN Rising Star' was a green, but good second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby in April and the Run for the Roses may have just been too much too soon. You can count on Pletcher to have the colt ready to roll in this softer spot and his back-to-back bullets on the local training track affirm that. With the colt's regular rider Luis Saez at Churchill Downs for Americanrevolution (Constitution), the Hall of Famer calls on his right-hand man John Velazquez to take over the reins.

Chad Brown has an intriguing runner in the Dwyer in Peter Brant's Nabokov (Uncle Mo). The $775,000 KEESEP buy earned his diploma at this oval when extended to two turns last time in his second start May 15.

Cox Holds Strong Hand at Churchill

Churchill Downs also offers a pair of intriguing graded events and Brad Cox has a strong chance to take both. He sends out Juddmonte homebred Mandaloun (Into Mischief)–who is making his first start since a well-beaten ninth in the G1 Saudi Cup–in the GII Stephen Foster H., a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' event. The colt was promoted to first via DQ in both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Haskell Invitational S. last year and crossed the line first in the GIII Louisiana S. in January. Cox also saddles Caddo River (Hard Spun) off a trio of optional claimer scores.

Olympiad | Coady

That pair face some stiff competition from New York in Olympiad (Speightstown) and Americanrevolution (Constitution). The Bill Mott-trained Olympiad is a perfect four-for-four this season, topped by wins in the GIII Mineshaft S., GII New Orleans Classic and GII Alysheba S. Meanwhile, Americanrevolution, who shares the same connections as Life is Good, looks to return to winning ways. Capturing the GI Cigar Mile Dec. 4, the chestnut spent six months on the shelf and was a disappointing fourth in his return in the track-and-trip Blame S. June 4.

The GII Fleur de Lis S. attracted just five distaffers, but two of them are Grade I winners. Cox sends out Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), whose trio of Grade I wins includes the 2020 GI Kentucky Oaks. The bay was run down last time by this field's other top-level scorer Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) in this venue's GI La Troienne S. May 6. That Stonestreet homebred ran back in the local Shawnee S. June 4, finishing fourth as the heavy favorite behind She's All Wolfe (Magna Graduate).

Sprinters Star at Gulfstream

Female sprinters get a chance to secure a spot in the Breeders' Cup Saturday at Gulfstream in the GII Princess Rooney S., a 'Win and You're In.' Champion Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) won this event last term en route to a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint and she will be heavily favored to defend her title. Winner of the GII Azeri S. earlier this year, the chestnut was third behind champion Letruska (Super Saver) and last-out GI Ogden Phipps S. winner Clairiere (Curlin) in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 23.

Her biggest competition will come from claim-to-fame Glass Ceiling (Constitution), winner of the GIII Barbare Fritchie S. and GIII Distaff H. The bay enters off a third to Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) in the GII Bed O'Roses S. June 10.

Male sprinters get a chance at graded glory in Hallandale too in the GIII Smile Sprint S. The race will go through GI Woody Stephens S. winner Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music), who makes his first start since finishing seventh in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen S. Mar. 26.

Delaware & Canada Also Offer Graded Action

Sophomores will be in the spotlight at Delaware Park Saturday with the GIII Delaware Oaks and GIII Kent S. Ruthless S. winner Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner) looks like the one to beat. The bay receives Lasix for the first time off a third-place finish in Aqueduct's GIII Gazelle S. Apr. 9.

The GIII Kent S. features 3-year-old colts on the grass and the likely favorite is Harrell Ventures' Main Event (Bernardini), winner of the Cutler Bay S. He was last seen finishing ninth in the GII American Turf S. at Churchill May 7. He faces Brad Cox runner Tommy Bee (Medaglia d'Oro), who was second in a trio of listed stakes.

Woodbine hosts four graded events Saturday: the GIII Selene S. for 3-year-old fillies, the GIII Marine S. for sophomore colts, the GII Nassau S. for older fillies and mares, and the GII Highlander S. for older male turf sprinters. Jonathan Thomas could win both the sophomore events with Catiche (Arrogate) in the Selene and Fuerteventura (Summer Front) in the Marine.

Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown), winner of this venue's GII Bessarabian S., faces SW & MGSP Crystal Cliffs (Fr) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) and GSW Plum Ali (First Samurai) in the Nassau. The Highlander is topped by the Wesley Ward-trained Bound for Nowhere (The Factor), a two-time winner of the GII Shakertown S. at Keeneland.

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Casse Gets Easy Win With Easy Time In Marine Stakes At Woodbine

Rafael Hernandez and Easy Time hung out in the middle of the field of six, moved to the front on the final turn, and easily found the winner's circle in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine.

Going a mile and a sixteenth on the Tapeta at the Toronto, Ontario track, the six 3-year-old colts and geldings broke evenly, with Tidal Forces and Haddassah matching strides early. On the first turn, Keveh Nicholls on Haddassah ceded the lead to Tidal Forces, sitting a half-length back for the first part of the race. On the backstretch, Nicholls moved Haddassah to the front, a length in front of Tidal Forces and Easy Time.

As the field approached the turn, Rafael Hernandez gave Easy Time the cue and started their move for the lead on the outside of Haddassah. Into the stretch, Easy Time was in command, leading by two lengths with Keep Grinding out toward the middle of the track charging late. Keep Grinding's move was not fast enough to catch Easy Time, who found the G3 Marine an easy victory in 1:43.62 for the mile and a sixteenth. Haddassah held on for third, with Frosted Over, Tidal Forces, and Candy Overload rounding out the field.

Find this race's chart here.

Easy Time paid $11.10, $7.50, and $4.90. Keep Grinding paid $10.60 and $6.70. Haddassah paid $3.90 to show.

“It was unbelievable today,” said Hernandez, who was also aboard the Kentucky-bred colt for his victorious career debut at Woodbine last October. “They told me, 'Raffi, just ride with confidence, get in good position and he's going to do the rest.' He did it.”

Trained by Mark Casse, Easy Time is a Kentucky bred sired by Not This Time out of the Cape Town mare Running Creek. He was bred by Woods Edge Farm and sold to Lori and Mark Collinsworth at the Keeneland September 2019 Yearling Sale for $62,000. Owners Breeze Easy purchased Easy Time from Ocala Stud at the 2020 Ocala Breeders' July Two-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale for $250,000.

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Queen’s Plate Trail Heats Up Sunday With Marine, Queenston Stakes At Woodbine

The $150,000 Grade 3 Marine Stakes and $125,000 Queenston Stakes share the spotlight this Sunday at Woodbine.

A key prep on the road to this year's Queen's Plate (August 22, at Woodbine), the 1 1/16-mile main track Marine, for three-year-olds, has attracted some notable Canadian-breds hoping for a shot at Plate glory.

The Marine is complemented by the Queenston, a seven-furlong race over the Tapeta for Canadian-bred three-year-old colts & geldings, also an important race ahead of the Plate.

Kevin Attard, in search of his first Marine crown, will send out Haddassah, a bay son of Air Force Blue, who will be making his first stakes appearance.

Bred and owned by Al and Bill Ulwelling, Haddassah is listed as the 8-1 fourth choice in the Queen's Plate Winterbook.

The bay gelding's first career start came last November at Woodbine, in a 1 mile and 70-yard main track race that had originally been scheduled for the turf.

Second at the stretch call, Haddassah rallied to secure a half-length win as the 9-5 mutuel choice.

After a series of steady spring works, the Ontario-bred finished a solid third in his 3-year-old debut on June 13, a 1 1/16-mile test over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

“With Haddassah, we had to run him against older horses,” noted Attard. “The scheduling with everything doesn't leave much time or room for error. We had to get him going and it was against older horses, and on the turf. It wasn't ideal, but all things considered, I thought he ran a good race. He's come back and worked really well in the interim. We're excited to see him run against his own age group, going a mile and a sixteenth. We're looking forward to it.”

Attard won't make any Queen's Plate plans quite yet.

“He's a horse that has a lot of raw talent, but I don't know if a mile and quarter is going to be in his realm. He has a lot of ability and talent. He enjoys what he does, so hopefully, everything comes together for him.”

Candy Overload, Easy Time, Frosted Over, Keep Grinding [trained by Attard's father, Tino, and owned by Attard's son, Joshua] and Tidal Forces comprise the rest of the Marine field.

Sam-Son Farm has the most Marine wins (six) for owners, while Sandy Hawley holds the riding record with five Marine crowns. The most recent horse to notch the Marine-Plate double was Shaman Ghost, who achieved the feat in 2015.

Attard will be represented in the Queenston – a race that features several Plate hopefuls – in the form of Red River Rebel.

Tabbed at 25-1 in the Queen's Plate Winterbook, the son of Reload has already experienced stakes success having taken last year's running of the Frost King.

Red River Rebel finished fourth in his first start of 2021, a 6 ½-furlong test on the Tapeta.

“I've only had him for about three weeks,” said Attard. “He's settled in well and obviously, he's an exciting horse to have. We're going to give him a shot here. He's had a race under his belt and we have him good and tight. We gave him a little blowout this morning [Wednesday] and he went a nice and easy half-mile with Rafael Hernandez, who will be riding him on Sunday. I'm excited to see him run. He's a very impressive-looking individual. Hopefully, he runs a big race.”

Artie's Storm, Candy Overload (cross-entered), first-time winner Del Griffith, Download, Gretzky the Great, Canada's champion 2-year-old male, Master Spy, winner of the 2020 Cup & Saucer Stakes, and stakes-placed Tio Magico complete the Queenston field.

Last year, Halo Again, under Rafael Hernandez, won the Queenston in a time of 1:23.63.

The Marine is race seven on Sunday's 11-race card. The Queenston is race eight. First post time is 1:20 p.m. Fans can also watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com.

FIELD FOR THE $150,000 GRADE 3 MARINE

POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER

1 – Tidal Forces – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Gail Cox

2 – Frosted Over – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

3 – Easy Time – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse

*4 – Candy Overload – Daisuke Fukumoto – Krista Cole-Simpson

5 – Haddassah – Keveh Nicholls – Kevin Attard

6 – Keep Grinding – Justin Stein – Tino Attard

* cross-entered in Queenston

FIELD FOR THE $125,000 QUEENSTON

POST – HORSE – JOCKEY – TRAINER

1 – Candy Overload – Daisuke Fukumoto – Krista Cole-Simpson

2 – Red River Rebel – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard

3 – Artie's Storm – David Moran – Paul Buttigieg

4 – Master Spy – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse

5 – Del Griffith (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Timothy Hamm

6 – Gretzky the Great – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

7 – Download (S) – Justin Stein – Michael De Paulo

8 – Tio Magico – Luis Contreras – Gail Cox

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‘Settled Down’ Shirl’s Speight Impressive Winning Marine Stakes For Attfield

Charles Fipke's homebred Shirl's Speight put on another impressive show, this time in Saturday's $125,000 Marine Stakes (Grade 3), at Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario.

After a head-turning debut in his career bow on July 4, Shirl's Speight, under leading rider Rafael Hernandez, was at the top his game again in the 1 1/16-mile Marine, for 3-year-olds.

Trained by Roger Attfield, the son of Speightstown came into the main track event off an eight-length score at seven furlongs over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

Sent off as the even-money choice in the Marine, Shirl's Speight broke sharply from the outside gate and tracked pacesetter Untitled through early splits of :24.59 and :48.68.

The front-end battle continued through three-quarters in 1:12.34 as the duo further distanced themselves from their five rivals.

Shirl's Speight easily took control soon after, holding a three-length advantage at track announcer Robert Geller's stretch call, going on to record a victory that looked much easier than the 2 ¾-length margin at the wire.

Lucky Curlin, the 2-1 second choice on the tote board, was second, while Queen's Plate-eligible Dotted Line finished third. Untitled was fourth.

The final time was 1:43.42 over the Tapeta.

“Like I said before, he's a horse with a tremendous amount of ability,” said Attfield, who earned his record fifth Marine, and first since 1993 (Cheery Knight). “He just had that one race and he never learned anything from that race. He did get the experience from it, so today was going to be more interesting.”

The Hall of Fame conditioner felt confident in his horse's chances ahead of the race, and even more so after the race was underway.

“He settled down and rated. Once he got to the five-eighths pole, I was pretty sure he'd just keep galloping around there. He's a very nice horse, for sure.”

It was something Attfield discovered well before Shirl's Speight's early July debut.

“I've been excited about this horse from last year, to be honest with you. He was always the workmate with Mr. Hustle, who finished up as [2019 Canadian] champion 2-year-old, and he [Shirl's Speight] always looked like he might be the stronger of the two, and just sprinting. I said, 'He'll stay. This horse will stay.' I was pretty sure he'd stay. But I had to put him away because he got jarred up and he needed some time. I couldn't wait to get him back this spring because I've been thinking about this horse all winter.”

Shirl's Speight paid $4.10, $2.80 and $2.60, combining with Lucky Curlin ($2.80, $2.40) for a $13.10 (7-1) exactor. A 7-1-4 triactor (Dotted Line, $4.40 to show) was worth $38.95 for a $1 ticket, while a $1 Superfecta [7-1-4-6 (Untitled)] came back $108.70.

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