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Space Blues Gets Another for Godolphin, Appleby and Buick

Following a bit of unwelcomed deja vu when Godolphin's rail-drawn Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was scratched after rearing up in the gate, stablemate Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) became the shortest-priced winner on what became a pretty quirky day at the Breeders' Cup, coming away late to best pacesetting local Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) in the GI Fanduel Breeders' Cup Mile, presented by the Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund. Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}), a well-backed fourth in last year's Mile, went a good race to finish a close third.

Smooth Like Strait, the lesser preferred of the two remaining California-based milers at 10-1–Hit the Road (More Than Ready) was scratched Saturday, while Mo Forza (Uncle Mo) was the 3-1 second choice–jumped straight into the bridle for Umberto Rispoli and although he had some early company in the form of the negatively ridden Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}), was allowed a fairly soft time of things from the front, negotiating the opening two furlongs in :23.51. Space Blues fell into the perfect spot from third, just to the inside of 2019 Mile runner-up Got Stormy (Get Stormy), and had the leaders in the crosshairs after a half in a moderate :47.38. Given the hurry-up by William Buick five-sixteenths of a mile out, Space Blues took up the chase in earnest, pushed away from the inside with a furlong and a half to travel, had dead aim on Smooth Like Strait at the eighth pole and surged past to register a cozy success. Ivar, worse than midfield and wide into the turn, switched out in upper stretch and was along late to grab third spot. Mo Forza never landed a blow, finishing last of the 13, a field that was covered by just over six lengths in the end.

Space Blues capped his 4-year-old campaign on a three-race winning streak, landing the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville last August, then returned to action with a 3/4-length tally in the STC 1351 Turf Sprint Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 20. Never truly in it when only ninth in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan Mar. 27, the chestnut hinted at a return to his best form when a half-length fourth in the G2 Lennox S. at Goodwood July 27 ahead of a sparkling 1 1/2-length score in the G2 City of York S. Aug. 21. Space Blues proved that he was in no way ground-dependent when running out a two-length winner of the G1 Prix de la Foret at ParisLongchamp in heavy going Oct. 3, a race that has served as a useful pointer to the Mile.

“I had a good plan in my head how I thought it would work out and I wanted it to work out and it worked out a little bit better than what I hoped,” said winning jockey William Buick, who doubled up on Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Turf two races later. “I was a little bit worried if I was going to be too close to a hot pace, but the horse, Blowout, she didn't go on today, and the leader set favorable fractions, so I was right behind him and I was very happy where I was.

He continued, “We had a perfect trip and I knew today was all about getting a trip for this horse, and the way the race panned out it really played to Space Blues' strengths, and I'm delighted that he could show everyone over here what he's all about. He's been a great horse for me personally and for everyone on this team.”

Pedigree Notes:

Space Blues was the second of three winners on Breeders' Cup weekend for the outstanding Dubawi, whose lone previous winner on championship weekend came courtesy of Wuheida (GB), ridden by Buick to victory in the 2017 Filly & Mare Turf here at Del Mar.

Space Blues is a half-sister to MGSW Shuruq, who has also left her mark on American racing as the dam of Godolphin's GSW & MGISP Antoniette (Hard Spun) and Javanica (Medaglia d'Oro), runner-up in this track's GIII Jimmy Durante S. last fall. This is also the female family of G1 English 1000 Guineas winner Virginia Waters (Kingmambo).

Miss Lucifer is the dam of the unraced 3-year-old filly Beautiful Future (Ire), a daughter of Dubawi's son Night of Thunder (Ire), and a yearling filly by Dark Angel (Ire).

Saturday, Del Mar
FANDUEL BREEDERS' CUP MILE PRESENTED BY PDJF-GI, $1,840,000, Del Mar, 11-6, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.01, fm.
1–SPACE BLUES (IRE), 126, h, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
               1st Dam: Miss Lucifer (Fr) (GSW-Eng, $193,403), by Noverre
               2nd Dam: Devil's Imp (Ire), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
               3rd Dam: High Spirited (Ire), by Shirley Heights (GB)
O/B-Godolphin, LLC (IRE); T-Charles Appleby; J-William T.
Buick. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 'TDN Rising Star',
19-11-3-1, $2,585,725. *1/2 to Shuruq (Elusive Quality),
Hwt. Older Mare at 4-UAE- at 7 – 9 1/2 f., MGSW-UAE,
GSW-Tur, GSP-Eng, $658,709. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for
the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Smooth Like Strait, 126, c, 4, Midnight Lute–Smooth as
Usual, by Flower Alley. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC
(KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $340,000.
3–Ivar (Brz), 126, h, 5, Agnes Gold (Jpn)–May Be Now, by
Smart Strike. O-Bonne Chance Farm, LLC & Stud R D I, LLC.;
B-Stud Rio Dois Irmaos (BRZ); T-Paulo H. Lobo. $180,000.
Margins: HF, 1, 3/4. Odds: 2.10, 10.20, 24.90.
Also Ran: Raging Bull (Fr), Got Stormy, Pearls Galore (Fr), In Love (Brz), Casa Creed, Real Appeal (Ger), Mother Earth (Ire), Blowout (GB), Vin de Garde (Jpn), Mo Forza. Scratched: Hit the Road, Master of The Seas (Ire), Queen Supreme (Ire).
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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Hard Spun’s Aloha West Gets the Bob in BC Sprint

DEL MAR, CA – Aloha West (Hard Spun) rocketed down the Del Mar stretch to just nail Dr. Schivel (Violence) by a painful nose in an absolutely thrilling renewal of Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Shuffled between runners and outsprinted toward the back of the pack in seventh as heavily favored star sophomore Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) was hounded through fractions of :21.91 and :44.11, Aloha West was ready to pounce in sixth as they approached the top of the stretch.

The 1-2 favorite was the first to blink as they turned for home as Dr. Schivel, unbeaten in three previous attempts at Del Mar, including this summer's GI Bing Crosby S., rolled up to hit the front with a four-wide sweep. Dr. Schivel looked long gone from there, but Aloha West had other ideas. Still with plenty to do as they approached the final furlong, Aloha West produced an impossible run on the outside beneath Jose Ortiz and just got there to defeat Dr. Schivel by a whisker at odds of 11-1.

It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to last out GII Vosburgh S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Following Sea (Runhappy) in third. Jackie's Warrior, an ultra-game neck winner over Saturday's smashing GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in Saratoga's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., tired to sixth.

It was a fourth Breeders' Cup winner for the easy-to-root-for trainer Wayne Catalano.

“I liked everything,” Catalano said. “I liked where we were at early in the race and the head-bob was a tough one. But you know when the results come this way we're happy. Right now, it's a good time to win a race like this. We are low on horses and have been around a long, long time. I have been reinventing myself so many times. Fifty years and counting. I just want to settle down and have a handful of nice ones in one spot and enjoy my life with my three grandkids and one more on the way.”

Sharing (Speightstown) gave winning owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners its first Breeders' Cup win with an 13-1 upset in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. Eclipse, quite impressively, has been represented in the two-day Championships in 11 straight years now since its inception in 2011. Eclipse has had its colors carried by GI Belmont S. winner Tapwrit (Tapit) as well as fellow Grade I winners Curalina (Curlin), Danza (Street Boss), In Lingerie (Empire Maker), et al.

“It's surreal to be here,” Eclipse frontman Aron Wellman said at the post-race press conference. “This is my home track. I live five minutes down the road from Del Mar racetrack, so to do it here with my family, this guy right here [Wayne Catalano], he's a treasure to the racing industry and a Hall of Famer in my book. And Jose [Ortiz] and I have had some incredible moments together. We won a Classic four years ago, and now to win a Breeders' Cup with him, I'm surrounded by class. And the horse, of course, deserves the most credit of all. He's an incredible specimen that there's no telling how good he can be.”

He continued, “Wayne has just done and incredible job developing this colt. He only ran for the first time in February this year as a 4-year-old, and 10 months later he's a Breeders' Cup Sprint champion. That takes master horsemanship to be able to accomplish something that monumental.”

Aloha West, purchased privately by this outfit earlier this season after making his first two starts at the age of four at Oaklawn, including a debut win Feb. 7, for Catalano clients Gary and Mary West, was fourth behind a pair of next-out winners while making his stakes debut in Churchill's Kelly's Landing S. June 25. He took his game to the next level, however, in a pair of wins at Saratoga this summer, including a breakthrough 102 Beyer Speed Figure performance in a seven-furlong optional claimer Sept. 2. He kicked home impressively, clocking an :11.82 final furlong, in his first try versus graded company, just coming up a nose short to the re-opposing Special Reserve (Midshipman) in the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. at Keeneland last out Oct. 8.

“[Catalano] told me two weeks ago when this horse worked at Keeneland after he was the second in the Phoenix, and this man has had his hands on some pretty serious horse flesh in his day, 3,000 wins as a jockey, almost 2,000 as a trainer, this is his fourth Breeders' Cup win, and he told me this might be the best horse he's ever had his hands on,” Wellman said. “So we're coming in here with all kinds of confidence. The way he's managed and developed this horse is clearly brilliant, so we had so much confidence going in. [Aloha West] never even won a stakes race, so to do what he did today is just magical.”

Pedigree Notes:

Aloha West becomes the second Breeders' Cup winner for Hard Spun, also represented by GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Spun to Run. He becomes the 15th Grade I winner/45th graded stakes winner/87th stakes winner for his sire. Aloha West's broodmare sire Speightstown– winner of the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint–is now responsible for five Grade I winners/14 graded winners/38 stakes winners. Island Bound, winner of the 2012 GIII Winning Colors S. for Robert Manfuso, produced a Good Samaritan filly of 2020 ($47,000 RNA '21 FTIOCT) and a Divining Rod filly of 2021. She was bred back to Golden Lad. Her 3-year-old filly Moquist is unbeaten in four career starts, most recently capturing an optional claimer for trainer Dale Capuano in the Laurel slop Oct. 29. Aloha West co-breeder Manfuso also bred GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss).

Saturday, Del Mar
QATAR RACING BREEDERS' CUP SPRINT-GI, $1,820,000, Del Mar, 11-6, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.49, ft.
1–ALOHA WEST, 126, c, 4, by Hard Spun
1st Dam: Island Bound (GSW, $277,790), by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Indy Mood for Luv, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Lovington, by Afleet
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN,
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($160,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Eclipse
Thoroughbred Partners; B-Robert Manfuso & Katharine M.
Voss (MD); T-Wayne M. Catalano; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $1,040,000.
Lifetime Record: 9-5-2-0, $1,311,068. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Dr. Schivel, 124, c, 3, Violence–Lil Nugget, by Mining for
Money. ($37,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEEJAN). O-Red Baron's Barn
LLC, Rancho Temescal LLC, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and
Branch, William A.; B-William A. Branch & Arnold R. Hill (KY);
T-Mark Glatt. $340,000.
3–Following Sea, 124, c, 3, Runhappy–Quick Flip, by
Speightstown. O/B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $180,000.
Margins: NO, 1HF, 3/4. Odds: 11.30, 4.30, 20.70.
Also Ran: Special Reserve, Matera Sky, Jackie's Warrior, C Z Rocket, Firenze Fire, Lexitonian.
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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Loves Only You Gets Japan Its Breeders’ Cup Win

Over the last quarter-century, horses based in Japan have increasingly made their presence felt on the international stage, winning top races on the European continent, the Middle East, Hong Kong and places as far afield as Australia. Though clearly possessed of the horseflesh to make an impression–no matter the port of call–the Breeders' Cup had eluded the island nation, but history was made Saturday at Del Mar when the well-traveled Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) sliced her way between rivals in the dying strides to salute in the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar. My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}), the half-sister to 2018 Filly & Mare Turf victress Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), overcame some trouble to be second ahead of favored War Like Goddess (English Channel) in third.

The Breeders' Cup had always been the objective for the 5-year-old mare, who had acquitted herself with flying colors in her overseas travels this year. The 2019 G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) victress was winless in five starts on the rough-and-tumble JRA circuit last season, but kicked off 2021 on a high, with a 1 1/4-length victory as the heavy favorite in the G2 Kyoto Kinen at Hanshin over this trip in mid-February. That race served as the ideal prep for the 12-furlong G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic Mar. 27, where she battled her way to the lead at the furlong grounds, only to be outfinished by the world-class duo of Mishriff (GB) (Make Believe {GB}) and her compatriot Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}). From there, it was off to Hong Kong, where Loves Only You led home a Japanese 1-2-3 in the G1 FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup going a mile and a quarter Apr. 25. Freshened up with an eye on Del Mar, the immaculately bred bay could not quite reel in reigning G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) winner Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) and settled for a close second in the G2 Sapporo Kinen Aug. 22. Loves Only You was cross-entered for the Turf, but took her chances in this sex-restricted event.

Alertly into stride for Yuga Kawada, Loves Only You secured a nice forward position while settling into a nice rhythm, as the supplemented Going to Vegas (Goldencents) sped to the front from her rail draw. With some pace pressure to her outside, Going to Vegas set legitimate fractions for the distance, covering the opening quarter in :24.10 and a half in :47.83 while prompted by Dogtag (War Front). Loves Only You lobbed along from fourth, racing just to the inside of Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as they reached the second of three turns, while War Like Goddess was content to trail while unhurried.

Kawada took a bit of a tug to regain cover turning up the backstretch. Well within striking distance, Loves Only You was given every conceivable chance, but Julien Leparoux, who had allowed the chalk to improve by a few spots passing the half-mile marker, cut the ribbons really and truly at the three-eighths and circled up four wide outside of Love into the lane. Loves Only You, checked momentarily off heels and a bit unbalanced at the quarter pole, raced on her incorrect lead into the final eighth of a mile, quickened impressively between War Like Goddess and the rallying My Sister Nat in deep stretch and was punched out to score narrowly.

Trainer Yoshito Yahagi is one of the more charismatic trainers on the JRA circuit and has shown himself more than willing to roll the dice on foreign soil. In 2016, he traveled Loves Only You's full-brother Real Steel (Jpn) to Dubai for a half-length success in the G1 Dubai Turf and also conditioned Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Japan's Horse of the Year for 2019, whose victories that year included a stunning success in the G1 Cox Plate in Melbourne, Australia. Others to have benefitted from his training program include dual-surface Group 1 winner Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) and 2020 Japanese Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

“When we finished second at Sapporo, I picked [this] race because the turf track is similar to Del Mar,” he said post-race. “First time she went overseas, she actually wasn't that good at traveling, but she's getting better and better and she gets stronger mentally.”

Yahagi indicated that Loves Only You is set to return to Hong Kong for the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting Dec. 12, where connections have accepted an invitation for the $3.85-million G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup.

Pedigree Notes:

Loves Only You is the first Breeders' Cup winner for the late, great Deep Impact (second starter) and hails from a female family that has been no stranger to success at this meeting. The unraced Loves Only Me was acquired by Katsumi Yoshida for $900,000 in foal to Danehill Dancer (Ire) at the 2009 Keeneland November Sale and came with plenty of pedigree appeal, as her dam Monevassia was a full-sister to dual GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Miesque (Nureyev)'s son Kingmambo and had produced champion and future Broodmare of the Year Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill)–subsequently the dam of G1SW Tapestry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and GSW John F Kennedy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). In addition to Kingmambo, Miesque was also responsible for G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane heroine East of the Moon (Private Account); GSW Mingun (A.P. Indy); GSW/MG1SP Miesque's Son (Mr. Prospector), sire of 2006 Mile hero Miesque's Approval.

Loves Only Me is the dam of seven winners from eight to race, all bar the in-utero foal, by Deep Impact. The cross of the late Shadai inmate over Storm Cat and Storm Cat-line dams has been sensationally productive, accounting for nearly 20% of the stallion's 53 worldwide Grade I/Group 1 winners, including recent G1 Yasuda Kinen hero Danon Kingly (Jpn), Hong Kong Group 1-winning sire A Shin Hikari (Jpn), Satono Aladdin (Jpn) and French 1000 Guineas heroine Beauty Parlour (Jpn), among others.

Loves Only Me has also been a commercial success at the JRHA Select Sales. Loves Only You fetched ¥160 million ($1,404,800) as a yearling at the 2017 sale, while a Heart's Cry (Jpn) half-brother to Loves Only You made ¥280 million ($2,537,293) as a foal at this year's Sale. Loves Only Me is also represented by a yearling colt by Duramente (Jpn), who passed away this past September.

Saturday, Del Mar
MAKER'S MARK BREEDERS' CUP FILLY AND MARE TURF-GI, $1,840,000, Del Mar, 11-6, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 3/8mT, 2:13.87, fm.
1–LOVES ONLY YOU (JPN), 124, m, 5, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Loves Only Me, by Storm Cat
                2nd Dam: Monevassia, by Mr. Prospector
                3rd Dam: Miesque, by Nureyev
(¥160,000,000 Ylg '17 JRASAL). O-DMM Dream Club Co.;
B-Northern Farm (JPN); T-Yoshito Yahagi; J-Yuga Kawada.
$1,040,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Jpn & HK, G1SP-UAE,
15-7-2-3, $6,493,602. *Full to Langley (Jpn), SP-Jpn,
$1,173,360; Real Steel (Jpn), Hwt. Older Horse-UAE at 7-9.5f,
G1SW-UAE, MGSW & MG1SP-Jpn, $7,508,769; and Prodigal
Son (Jpn), SW & MGSP-Jpn, $1,564,219. Werk Nick Rating: B+.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–My Sister Nat (Fr), 124, m, 6, by Acclamation (GB)
                1st Dam: Starlet's Sister (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Premiere Creation (Fr), by Green Tune
                3rd Dam: Allwaki, by Miswaki
(€20,000 Ylg '16 ARQFEB). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Ecurie Des
Monceaux (FR); T-Chad C. Brown. $340,000.
3–War Like Goddess, 124, f, 4, by English Channel
                1st Dam: Misty North, by North Light (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Misty Gallop, by Victory Gallop
                3rd Dam: Romanette, by Alleged
($1,200 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $1,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $30,000
2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-George Krikorian; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-William I. Mott. $180,000.
Margins: HF, HD, 1HF. Odds: 4.30, 29.90, 2.30.
Also Ran: Love (Ire), Audarya (Fr), Ocean Road (Ire), Rougir (Fr), Pocket Square (GB), Acanella (GB), Dogtag, Going to Vegas, Queen Supreme (Ire). 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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Life is Good Never Looks Back in Dominant Dirt Mile Performance

In what might have been the easiest of victories on Saturday's championship card–or maybe he's just so good he simply made it look that way–'TDN Rising Star' and 3-5 favorite Life Is Good (Into Mischief) captured the GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The bay led every step of the way through blazing fractions straight into the winner's circle, with his only loss in six career starts a neck in arrears of GI Sprint favorite Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

Silver State (Hard Spun), the GI Hill 'n' Dale Met Mile hero who figured to be one the biggest nemesis for Life Is Good in the Dirt Mile, stumbled leaving the gate. Restrainedvengence (Hold Me Back) didn't break cleanly either, tossing his head and hesitating ever so briefly, but Life Is Good sailed out of his stall smoothly. Sandwiched early between Japanese runners Pingxiang (Speightstown) and Jasper Prince (Violence), he cleared the field into the first turn, blazing through splits of :21.88, :44.94, and 1:08.76. All the while, Life Is Good looked to be doing it easy with rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. sitting almost motionless. Horse for the course Ginobili (Munnings) chased him on the turn, but Life Is Good was just too good. Ortiz shook him up slightly, throwing a few crosses and shaking the whip at him before keeping his mind on business with one right-handed tap of the crop, and the pair coasted under the wire as much-the-best 5 3/4-length victors. They covered the two-turn mile in 1:34.12. Ginobili and Restrainedvengence rounded out the trifecta.

“I had a perfect trip,” said Ortiz, Jr. “He broke out of there running, he relaxed for me. I wasn't worried about those other runners early in the race, because I knew he was so fast. When we got to the quarter pole, he re-broke for me. What a nice horse to ride.”

Life Is Good's Dirt Mile was the 14th Breeders' Cup win for Ortiz and the 12th for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Both had previously won the Dirt Mile, Ortiz in 2019 with Spun to Run (Hard Spun) and Pletcher with Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song) in 2015.

“We were hoping for that, expecting that based on the way that he's been training, but it's always great to see it actually happen,” said Pletcher. “He took it to them. Just too much horse.”

Continued Pletcher, “We were anticipating a good performance or an exceptional performance, just it's rare that you have a horse train as well as this horse does and breeze as impressively as he does and do everything as effortlessly and easily as he is capable of. So we were hoping for a big effort. We felt like he was sitting on a big effort and then you just hope everything goes smoothly with the ship and settling in in new surroundings and get a clean break and all the classic things that you need to go right for him to show his talent.”

Life Is Good has necessitated patience throughout his career, but how beautifully it has paid off for his connections. The 3-year-old–the only sophomore in the Dirt Mile field–debuted Nov. 22 over this track last year for trainer Bob Baffert shortly after the barn's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner and eventual Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief) was retired to stud. Life Is Good quickly stepped in with the expectation of filling Authentic's shoes, crushing his debut 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight field by 9 1/2 lengths, earning his 'Rising Star' designation, and quickly setting tongues wagging regarding his GI Kentucky Derby chances. His next two starts, the Jan. 2 GIII Sham S. and the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S., with 101 and 107 Beyers, respectively, did nothing to discourage the Derby talk. Before the last round of major preps, he was tied on the Derby leaderboard with 60 qualifying points and had beaten then-stablemate and eventual Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit (Protonico) in both the Sham and San Felipe. Life was good in the Life Is Good camp.

Then, as has been well documented, much went awry. Life Is Good came out of a 1:11 2/5 six-panel work (1/6) at Santa Anita Mar. 20 with a slight injury to a hind leg. Baffert declared him off the Derby trail and said he'd get at least 60 days off while undergoing a medical evaluation. An ankle chip was discovered and surgery to remove it followed. Baffert won the Derby with Medina Spirit only to be on the brink of losing it due to a betamethasone positive. A slew of racetrack bans for Baffert followed. Life Is Good returned to the races just over five months after that Santa Anita work, but not to Baffert's barn.

When Life Is Good returned to the entry box, it was for Pletcher, this time on the East Coast. Pletcher knew what he had in Life Is Good and brought the then-unbeaten colt back in an extremely ambitious spot few others would have dared to enter off such a layoff, the Aug. 28 GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at Saratoga. In an extremely game effort, Life Is Good got run down by a neck to Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in what remains his only career defeat. The Sept. 25 GII Kelso H. at the same distance as the Dirt Mile followed with Life Is Good running like the 1-20 choice he was, giving the impression of a public workout or at least a Sunday stroll.

“He's one of [the] classic rare horses that you could consider three different races on the card,” said Pletcher after the Dirt Mile. “Who knows, he might even grass on top of that. But he's just, he's super fast, but what we have seen from him in his training is he has the ability to go fast and keep going and I think that's what everyone was able to see today.”

WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden, representing co-owners WinStar and CHC Inc., indicated after the race that Life Is Good is expected to have a 2022 campaign.

Pedigree Notes:
In what is becoming a familiar refrain, Spendthrift Farm's super-sire Into Mischief is the sire of the winner. Life Is Good's Dirt Mile is the sixth Breeders' Cup win for the son of Harlan's Holiday, follwing Goldencents in back-to-back Dirt Miles in 2013-14, Covfefe in the 2019 Filly & Mare Sprint, Gamine in the 2020 Filly & Mare Sprint, and Authentic in last year's Classic. Breeders' Cup success aside, from 10 crops of racing age, Into Mischief has 102 Northern Hemisphere-bred black-type winners, 44 of which are graded winners.

Recently pensioned Distorted Humor is the broodmare sire of Life Is Good, with black-type winners out of his daughters numbering 115. When his daughters have been matched with Into Mischief, they've come up with not only Life Is Good, but also MGISW and current third-leading freshman sire Practical Joke, 2021 MGSW Fulsome, and three other stakes winners.

Life Is Good, who was a $525,000 Keeneland September yearling, is Beach Walk's second foal. Her yearling filly is by Blame, her 2021 colt is by Candy Ride (Arg), and she was bred back to Into Mischief. Her dam is SW Bonnie Blue Flag (Mineshaft), who placed in both the 2010 GI Test S. and GI Prioress S. Bonnie Blue Flag is a half to MGISW Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). She sold at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale for $1.5 million, but reappeared at the 2019 Keeneland November sale for just $15,000.

Saturday, Del Mar
BIG ASS FANS BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE-GI, $900,000, Del Mar, 11-6, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:34.12, ft.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 123, c, 3, 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
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($525,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-CHC Inc. and
WinStar Farm LLC; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $520,000. Lifetime Record:
6-5-1-0, $1,059,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ginobili, 126, g, 4, Munnings–Find the Humor, by Sharp
Humor. ($35,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Slam Dunk Racing, Richard
Baltas, Jerry McClanahan and Michael Nentwig; B-Hinkle
Farms (KY); T-Richard Baltas. $170,000.
3–Restrainedvengence, 126, g, 6, Hold Me Back–
Cupids Revenge, by Red Ransom. ($67,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP).
O-Kelly Brinkerhoff and Bob Grayson, Jr.; B-Westwind Farms
(KY); T-Val Brinkerhoff. $90,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 3/4, NK. Odds: 0.70, 4.40, 40.60.
Also Ran: Eight Rings, Silver State, Snapper Sinclair, Pingxiang, Jasper Prince.
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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