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Pletcher: Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Possible Target For Life Is Good, Mind Control

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said he saw just what he had hoped from talented 3-year-old Life Is Good, who secured a third graded stakes victory when defeating elders in Saturday's $300,000 Grade 2 Kelso over a one-turn mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The son of leading sire Into Mischief was never in doubt throughout the journey, commanding the compact field through every point of call under Irad Ortiz, Jr.'s expert engineering and glided home a 5 ½-length winner.

Life Is Good garnered a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for the win.

“We were very pleased with he way he ran. He seemed to settle pretty nicely,” said Pletcher. “He got into a good rhythm and Irad asked him at the top of the stretch to go along and he did. He dropped right down to the rail and I was happy with it.”

Pletcher said Life Is Good, owned by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm, is a likely candidate for the $2 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on November 5 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“That's what we had talked about beforehand and yesterday definitely encouraged us to continue that path,” Pletcher said. “I'll talk to all the connections, and we'll firm up a plan, but that's what we talked about before.”

Favored in all five of his career starts, Life Is Good was an impressive three-time winner in California while racing for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, including victories in the Grade 3 Sham on January 2 and Grade 2 San Felipe on March 6, both at Santa Anita. He returned to action in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on August 28 at Saratoga where he was a game second to Jackie's Warrior.

Pletcher took a similar route with 2011 Kelso winner Uncle Mo, who was second in the H. Allen Jerkens [then run as the King's Bishop] off a layoff en route to an in-hand Kelso score.

“I've thought about that, they both were coming back in the same two races off a layoff,” Pletcher said. “They were both talented horses and have speed and ability to carry it over a distance. They were two super star horses.”

Pletcher could arrive at the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with at least two solid contenders after Mind Control displayed a game effort in the Parx Dirt Mile at its namesake track in Bensalem, Pa., on Saturday. The 5-year-old Stay Thirsty bay registered his first triple digit speed figure in 23 lifetime starts, garnering a 104 Beyer when fending off Grade 1 Met Mile winner Silver State in deep stretch to win by a head.

A graded stakes winner in four straight years, Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable's Mind Control made his first start going two turns since finishing a distant seventh in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Nevertheless, Pletcher said he was confident that two turns would not be out of reach.

“He was game,” Pletcher said. “That other horse [Silver State] looked like he had him, but he fought right back. It was good to see him get the win. We thought he would handle two turns and we were happy to see him do it.”

Pletcher said the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is under consideration but not etched in stone for Mind Control, who also earned an entry into the Breeders' Cup Sprint with a victory in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud – a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifier.

“I have to talk to [Red Oak Stable racing manager] Rick Sacco. He wanted to run in the Parx Mile to see where we are,” Pletcher said. “I'll give it a few days, talk with Rick and come up with a game plan.”

Mind Control, an earner of over $1.4 million, has won all six of his graded stakes scores at NYRA tracks. Following his juvenile season in 2018, which saw Mind Control garner an upset score in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, he secured victories in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., before a triumphant return to the Spa in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial while racing for trainer Gregg Sacco.

After earning Grade 3 wins at Aqueduct in the 2020 Toboggan and Tom Fool, Mind Control snapped an eight-race losing streak in his debut for Pletcher in the John A. Nerud.

Pletcher breezed impressive debut maiden winner Annapolis over the Belmont inner turf in company with dual surface graded stakes winner Always Shopping. Both horses finished their half-mile moves in :48.00 – the second fastest of 20 recorded works at the distance.

A Bass Stables homebred, Annapolis is on target for the $200,000 Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 3.

“He worked great. Hopefully everything goes smoothly this weekend and we'll target the Pilgrim,” Pletcher said.

Annapolis, a bay son of War Front out of graded stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare My Miss Sophia, was an impressive winner at first asking over Saratoga's inner turf on September 4, where he made up 7 ¼ lengths to secure a 4 ½-length debut win, garnering a 74 Beyer.

Pletcher added that Always Shopping, a Repole Stable homebred daughter of Awesome Again, will eye the $300,000 Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya on October 3.

Also on the work tab for Pletcher was Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, who breezed a half-mile in :48.44 on the inner turf. He could make his debut on grass in the $150,000 Grade 3 Futurity on October 10 at Belmont Park – a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 5 at Del Mar.

“We worked him last week [on the turf] and I thought he worked okay, but I think today he worked better,” Pletcher said. “We're confident after today that he handled it pretty well so that opens up a few options, the Futurity being one, also considering the [Grade 2] Bourbon at Keeneland.”

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Pletcher saddled two juveniles Nest and Overstep to debut scores on Saturday at Belmont.

Nest, a Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House-owned daughter of Curlin, was a five-length winner going 1 1/16 miles over the main track in the Saturday opener, producing a 70 Beyer for the score.

The $150,000 Tempted on November 4 at Aqueduct could be an option moving forward, according to Pletcher.

“We're very pleased with the debut,” Pletcher said. “She handled a lot of ground which was good to see. I need to go over it thoroughly with Mike Repole and Aron Wellman [of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners], but probably something like the Tempted would make the most sense.”

Five races later, Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Overstep, a New York-bred son of Into Mischief, dazzled going six furlongs with a 6 ¾-length win over the main track.

Pletcher said the bay colt, bred by Chester and Mary Broman, could target the $250,000 Sleepy Hollow on October 30 for New York-bred juveniles going a one-turn mile.

“I thought he was impressive,” Pletcher said. “He was well in hand the last part. I think something like the Sleepy Hollow would make the most sense for him.”

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Mind Control Seeks More Spa Glory in Forego

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) will attempt to win his third Grade I victory at Saratoga when he goes postward in the GI Forego S. Saturday. The 5-year-old pulled the 10-1 upset when going wire-to-wire in the 2018 GI Hopeful S. and returned to win the 2019 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., again at double-digit odds. His Spa streak was interrupted last year when he was third in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and eighth in the Forego, but he returned to the winner's circle for the first time in over a year when outbattling Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) in the July 4 GII John A. Nerud S. at Belmont Park last time out.

“He's good at the distance. He's won over the track and seems to be maintaining form,” trainer Todd Pletcher, who saddles Mind Control for the second time Saturday, said. “We expect a tough race, but he's doing good.”

Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), who capped a championship season in 2020 with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, has finished second or third in all four 2021 outings and seeks his first win of the campaign in the Forego. The 8-year-old was second in the Mar. 13 Hot Springs S. and again in the Apr. 10 GII Count Fleet Sprint S. He missed by just a head when third in the May 1 GI Churchill Downs S. and was most recently a rallying third behind Lexitonian (Speightstown) after a troubled trip in the July 31 Vanderbilt.

The speedy Yaupon (Uncle Mo) opened his career with four straight wins last year, including the GII Amsterdam S. over the Saratoga strip. The 4-year-old suffered his first loss when eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and he filled that same spot in the Mar. 27 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen before returning to the winner's circle in the July 4 Lite the Fuse S. at Pimlico last time out.

“[The Breeders' Cup] was too much too soon,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He had run well at Pimlico previously and I thought it was a very fast race. He came out of it in good shape. Obviously, I think he deserves the chance in the Forego. He's run very well at Saratoga, as well.”

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Lexitonian Will Try To Carry Momentum Into Forego

Calumet Farm homebred Lexitonian, a racing enigma who broke through with his biggest performance to date last month, goes after a second consecutive win for the first time in his career in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Forego at Saratoga Race Course.

The 42nd running of the Forego, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, is one of seven graded-stakes, six of them Grade 1, worth $4.6 million in purses on a blockbuster program highlighted by the 152nd renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers.

Five of the eight horses entered in the Forego are Grade 1 winners, including Firenze Fire, Mind Control, Mischevious Alex and Whitmore, the champion sprinter of 2020. Lexitonian joined the group with a half-length victory in the six-furlong Alfred G. Vanderbilt July 31, his 19th career start and first since being eased to the wire in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap June 5 at Belmont Park.

“He's probably not a fan favorite horse because he's a tough horse to handicap. No one knows what to expect,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “We've always had the confidence to put him in races like that. He does from time to time throw a clunker in. He got beat [45 ¼] lengths in the Met Mile. A lot of people probably would have dropped him down a grade to get him a confidence win and get him back on track, but he showed signs that he was still capable of winning a type of race like the Vanderbilt. We stuck him in there and he proved to everybody that he's got the capability of jumping up with a big performance.”

Sisterson approached the Vanderbilt with a different strategy, asking jockey Jose Lezcano to get the 5-year-old son of champion sprinter Speightstown involved early. Breaking from the rail, they dueled first with Strike Power and then with Special Reserve on the lead before prevailing at odds of 34-1, the longest shot in a field of nine that also included Whitmore [third], Firenze Fire [fifth] and Mischevious Alex [eighth].

“We sort of changed the tactics with him,” Sisterson said. “He'd been breezing down on the inside of horses, and he's very workmanlike. It was just by chance we drew the one hole. I suppose when you draw the one, you have to jump and go forward. Going three-quarters, you're not going to take back and make one run. I'd never be someone to tell a jockey what to do, but I just chatted to Jose about the race. I said, 'Let's be real aggressive early and see if you can put him on the lead.' Credit to Jose, it was a brilliant ride. Lexitonian really responded to that.”

Lexitonian became a graded-stakes winner in the Grade 3 Chick Lang in 2019 at Pimlico Race Course, later that summer returning to Maryland to take the Concern at Laurel Park. He won one of his next 11 starts prior to the Vanderbilt, coming up a nose short in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby last August and a head shy in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs May 21. He also ran fifth in last year's Forego, beaten 2 ½ lengths by Win Win Win.

“He'd probably been a bit unfortunate not to already have been a Grade 1 winner. Obviously I'm biased. He's had some near misses but he put it all together in the Vanderbilt,” Sisterson said. “He's shown us signs that he's going to run the same sort of race he did in the Vanderbilt. We haven't changed anything up with him. We've just kept it simple. With him, less is more. We found that out pretty quickly. We're excited about Saturday. It would be great to see him duplicate a performance like that. I think he's well capable of doing it. He couldn't be doing any better.”

Lezcano returns to ride from post position 3.

Robert LaPenta, trainer Ron Moquett and Head of Plains Partners' Whitmore rallied to be third after some early trouble in the Vanderbilt, beaten less than two lengths. According to Equibase, the 8-year-old gelding – a winner of 15 races including the 2018 Forego and nearly $4.5 million in purse earnings from 42 career starts – can become the second-oldest horse to win a Grade 1 event at Saratoga behind John's Call, who was 9 when he won the Sword Dancer in 2009.

The Vanderbilt was Whitmore's first race since running third by a head in the Churchill Downs, a nose behind Lexitonian. Winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint last fall to clinch his first year-end championship, he will have the services of Joel Rosario from post position 2.

Another multi-millionaire in the Forego is Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, a 14-time winner with nine graded victories who earned Grade 1 credentials in the 2017 Champagne at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old Poseidon's Warrior horse has enjoyed great success downstate, including wins in the Grade 2 True North and Grade 3 Runhappy this spring, but his lone win in eight Saratoga starts came in the Grade 3 Sanford in 2017, his second career race.

Making his third straight appearance in the Forego, having run second to champion Mitole in 2019 and 11th behind Win Win Win last year, Firenze Fire will have Jose Ortiz in the irons from post position 8.

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control [post 4, John Velazquez] snapped an eight-race losing streak last out in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud July 4 at Belmont Park, his first start for newly inducted Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. His two career Grade 1 victories have come at Saratoga in the 2018 Hopeful and 2019 H. Allen Jerkens, both at the Forego distance, for previous trainer Gregg Sacco.

“He's good at the distance. He's won over the track and seems to be maintaining form,” Pletcher said. “We expect a tough race, but he's doing good.”

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex won back-to-back Grade 3 stakes last year in the Swale at Gulfstream Park and Gotham at Aqueduct for trainer John Servis. Moved to South Florida-based Saffie Joseph, Jr. for 2021, the 4-year-old Into Mischief colt put together a three-race win streak that included the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint and Aqueduct's Grade 1 Carter. Third in the Met Mile, he regressed with an eighth-place finish in the Vanderbilt that left Joseph scratching his head.

“Last race, he didn't show up. Hopefully, we can correct it this time and he can come back and run his usual race for us,” Joseph said. “If he runs his race, he's a horse who goes in there with a good chance.”

Mischevious Alex's stablemate, Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It, has run second two starts this year, both at Gulfstream. He was beaten less than a length each time after returning from more than a year layoff, first by Double Crown in a May 23 optional claimer and then by Miles Ahead in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint July 3.

“Chance It is making his third start off a layoff and seems to be training really well. He always had a lot of potential. He'll have to step it up against these types of horses, but he's entitled to have a chance,” Joseph said. “He's come back and in his both his races, he's been just as good as before the layoff. The added distance will work to his advantage. This will be his test to see if he belongs against these types of horses. We feel like he does, so fingers crossed.”

Tyler Gaffalione has the call on Chance It from post position 6, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides Mischevious Alex from post position 1.

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon won each of his first four career starts last year, two of them coming at Saratoga – an open allowance triumph over older horses and the Grade 2 Amsterdam – as well as the Chick Lang. Following a troubled eighth in both the Breeders' Cup Sprint to end 2020 and the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen to open 2021, Yaupon returned to capture Pimlico's Lite the Fuse July 4 in his most recent outing.

“[The Breeders' Cup] was too much too soon,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He had run well at Pimlico previously and thought it was a very fast race. He came out of it in good shape. Obviously, I think he deserves the chance in the Forego. He's run very well at Saratoga, as well.”

Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides Yaupon from post position 7.

Three Diamonds Farm's Doubly Blessed [post 5, Luis Saez] is set to make his graded-stakes debut in the Forego. Fourth in the 1 3/8-mile Stud Muffin March 27 at Aqueduct, the 4-year-old Empire Maker gelding will be cutting back to a sprint for the first time in a 13-race career that began last spring on the turf. Last out, he won a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer in the Belmont Park slop May 29.

The Forego is slated as Race 8 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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Mineshaft Half to Mind Control Up in Time in Spa Opener

1st-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-22, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:18.65, ft, neck.
GODDESS OF FIRE (f, 2, Mineshaft–Feel That Fire {SW, $147,280}, by Lightnin N Thunder), who had worked in company with Saturday's impressive 'TDN Rising Star' My Prankester (Into Mischief), was given a 2-1 chance to keep trainer Todd Pletcher's good recent run with juvenile firsters going. The bay tracked out wide as second timer Everyoneloveslinda (Secret Circle) showed the way through splits of :22.17 and :46.07. The frontrunner seemed long gone entering the stretch, and Goddess of Fire was under a busy ride, but the latter found another gear in the final furlong to close a three or four-length gap and notch a narrow decision. The winner is half to her stablemate Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), MGISW, $1,259,229 and a yearling filly by Candy Ride (Arg). Feel That Fire was bred to Uncle Mo for 2022. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $55,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/ B-Red Oak Stable (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

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