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Into Mischief Colt Life Is Good Crushes San Felipe Rivals

Over a racetrack that has not been producing sizzling times, Bob Baffert's Life Is Good, in only his third career start, rendered six rivals insignificant as he fairly waltzed to a massive eight-length win in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., further affirming his status as the West's dominant Kentucky Derby hopeful. Ridden by Mike Smith, Life Is Good led gate to wire and despite the fact he drifted out very wide through the lane, stopped the clock for 1 1/6 miles in a rapid 1:42.18.

Breaking from the rail, Life Is Good was instantly in command, with Smith sitting still as he enjoyed a 2 ½ length lead seven furlongs from home. Down the backside, Life Is Good was totally unpressured and was four lengths clear mid-way around the far turn. From there, it seemed it was just a matter of how far he'd win by as he maintained an insurmountable advantage.

While providing Baffert with his record eighth San Felipe win, Life Is Good, a colt by Into Mischief, out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk, picked up 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, giving him 60 total and thus assuring himself a berth in the Run for the Roses on May 1 while also firmly establishing himself the heavy favorite for the Grade I Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3.

“I think he showed that he could get the distance, when a horse can get a mile and a sixteenth the way he did today, it gives you every indication they could go an eighth of a mile further,” said Smith.

When asked about the fact Life Is Good drifted out to about the 10-path in deep stretch, Smith attributed it to Santa Anita's Infield Big Screen.

“When the Big Screen is lit up, they can see it,” said Smith. “In the mornings, he goes by the screen like it's nothing because it's not on. He was locked on it down the lane today. He's just so talented. I had a strong hold on him down to the wire, just holding onto him, making sure that he stayed straight.”

A gate to wire winner of the G3 Sham Stakes going one mile on Jan. 2, Life Is Good was off at 1-2 and paid $3.00, $2.20 and $2.10.

“I like the way he got away from the gate, both of my horses (including runner-up Medina Spirit) got away cleanly, they were in a good spot,” said Baffert, who will now go about angling on winning his record 10th Santa Anita Derby. “Down the backside, that's where this horse can get a little tough and I was hoping we'd get a little 47 and change (half mile). But Mike just sat on him, he was doing it so easily, I saw 46 and four, I said, 'Well, I think I could live with that.' I always thought he would be a super horse … but at the quarter pole, I could tell he was just still cruising, just doing it easy.”

Owned by CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm, Life Is Good, who is unbeaten in three starts, picked up $180,000 for the win, increasing his earnings to $274,200.

A close second to Life Is Good in the Sham, Medina Spirit never threatened his stablemate, but shook off a challenge from Dream Shake in the final three sixteenths to be second by 2 ¼ lengths. Off at 3-1 with John Velazquez, Medina Spirit paid $2.80 and $2.20.

Dream Shake, who came off an impressive first-time maiden win sprinting, was third best, finishing 3 ¼ lengths better than Roman Centurian. Off at 8-1 with Joel Rosario, Dream Shake paid $3.00 to show.

Fractions on the race, all set by the winner, were 23.63, 46.83, 1:10.55 and 1:35.46.

In addition to the 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points awarded to the winner, the second, third and fourth place finishers will receive 20, 10 and five.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

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Helium Remains Unbeaten With Tampa Bay Derby Surprise

D J Stable's Helium transformed his synthetic track form to dirt and improved his record to a perfect 3-for-3 with an off-the-pace victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Jose Ferrer, Helium ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.55 and paid $32.80 as a 15-1 longshot. Hidden Stash, who ranged up to challenge the winner in mid-stretch, finished second as the 3-1 second choice, with another longshot, 34-1 Moonlite Strike third, Unbridled Honor finished fourth, with King of Dreams fifth. Candy Man Rocket, the 8-5 favorite coming off a victory in the G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, was never a factor.

The Tampa Bay Derby offered 85 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby with 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.

From the first crop of Ironicus, a top-class turf performer by Distorted Humor, Helium won his first two starts on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Woodbine, including a 4 1/4-length victory in the Display Stakes in his most recent start on Oct. 18.

Boca Boy reprised his role from the Sam F. Davis, setting the pace through fractions of :23.23, :47.06 and 1:11.38 for the first six furlongs. King of Dreams and Moonlite Strike were in closest pursuit, with Helium kept to the far outside in the run down the backstretch, with Hidden Stash just behind him.

Approaching the far turn, Ferrer put Helium in a four-wide drive and had the lead entering the stretch. Hidden Stash rallied alongside Helium, possibly putting his nose in front just inside the eighth pole, but Helium fought back and gradually edged clear approaching the wire.

“I'm just so happy to ride my first Tampa Bay Derby,” said Ferrer. “I always wanted to ride this race. Mark Casse gave me a great opportunity to go out there and do my job and do my thing. On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and I could see who had more horse and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

“He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance,” Casse said. “Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

“This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer,” Casse added. “He made that big wide run, he made the lead but (after Hidden Stash rallied) I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

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Weyburn Fights Back Late To Win Gotham At 46-1

Fighting back on the inside, Chiefswood Stables' homebred Weyburn, overtook Crowded Trade in a thrilling stretch duel to win the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy for trainer James Jerkens, Weyburn earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. Runner-up Crowded Trade earned 20 points, with Chad Brown stablemate Highly Motivated earning 10 points for third and Bob Baffert-trained West Coast invader Freedom Fighter getting five points for fourth.

Sent away at 46-a odds, Weyburn, a 3-year-old Ontario-bred by Pioneerof the Nile out of Sunday Affair, by A.P. Indy, paid $95.50 for the win.

Freedom Fighter went to the front under Manny Franco, going :24.29 for the opening quarter and :48.03 for the half mile. Weyburn raced alongside as they went six furlongs in 1:12.85, when Crowded Trade and Eric Cancel joined the dueling leaders on the turn. Freedom Fighter backed out first and Crowded Trade had all the momentum on the outside, poking his nose in front in mid-stretch. Approaching the wire, Weyburn jumped from his left lead to his right lead and fought back, getting his nose in front just in time.

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Wolf: Gotham Pair Deserve A Shot In ‘Tough Race’ For Derby Points

Having experienced both the high and low ends of the Kentucky Derby spectrum, owner Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing knows the trails and tribulations of the road to the first Saturday in May more than most. On Saturday, he'll be watching the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham with a sense of cautious optimism when sending out Atlantic Road and Freedom Fighter.

The one-turn mile event at Aqueduct Racetrack is New York's penultimate local qualifier for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs and awards the top four finishers points according to a 50-20-10-5 scale.

Coverage of the Gotham will be available on America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports. Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast Saturday from 5-6 p.m. Eastern on FS2, with the Gotham slated as Race 9 at 5:07 p.m.

Wolf, who manages Starlight Racing with his wife Laurie, has campaigned 12 Kentucky Derby starters. He was involved in multiple-owner partnerships which campaigned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and last year's winner Authentic, but also had two last-place finishers in Keyed Entry (2006) and Monba (2008).

“Through the years, we've had quite a few hoses in the Derby. It's a lot different when you have one that's a favorite as opposed to a longshot like Keyed Entry,” Wolf said. “It's pretty exciting when you have a legit shot. Last year, even though Barclay's horse [Tagg, Tiz the Law] was the big favorite and the one to beat, I was confident that our horse would perform, and obviously he did.”

Trained by Hall of Fame nominee Todd Pletcher, Atlantic Road broke his maiden at second asking over the Aqueduct main track in gate-to-wire fashion under Kendrick Carmouche. The son of Quality Road was originally owned by Pletcher and was privately purchased by Wolf.

“I think the further he goes the better with him being by Quality Road out of a Smart Strike mare,” said Wolf. “He improved considerably and showed a bit of determination down the lane. His last race was encouraging. It'll be a tall ask to compete, but he deserves the chance.”

Atlantic Road was one of four next-out winners of the January 8 maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park, which was won by Lamutanaaty.

“A lot of those horses validated that they were good ones,” Wolf said.

Atlantic Road will break from the rail under jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr.

Fellow Starlight Racing color-bearer Freedom Fighter also has only made two starts but has covered some ground in both efforts. The son of Violence won on debut at Del Mar on August 1 at Del Mar and emerged from a six-month layoff in the Grade 2 San Vicente on February 5 at Santa Anita, where he registered a 94 Beyer Speed Figure with a close second to highly-regarded stable mate Concert Tour.

Freedom Fighter is co-owned by Starlight Racing alongside SF Racing, Madaket Stables, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm and Robert E. Masterson and was purchased for $120,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“His figures have improved dramatically just looking at his Beyers and he ran an 8 on the [Ragozin] sheets. But it looks like a tough race,” Wolf said.

Campaigned by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Freedom Fighter has trained forwardly toward the Gotham, firing a pair of bullets over the Santa Anita main track, most recently a five-furlong drill in 59.20 on February 27 – the fastest of 63 recorded works at the distance.

“When Bob tells you the horse is good and breezing the way he is, I get pretty excited,” Wolf said. “Relatively speaking, paying $120,000 for him in comparison to what we've paid for some of the others is a bit of a bargain, especially if he moves forward.”

Wolf and owner Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables tasted Derby victory together previously with Justify and Authentic.

Wolf appears to have horses firing on multiple cylinders on the Derby trail as Starlight Racing also is part owner of Spielberg, a fellow Baffert trainee who was recently a game second to champion Essential Quality in the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park. A son of Union Rags, Spielberg won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December and currently sits seventh on the leaderboard with 17 points.

He also has Grade 3 Holy Bull runner-up Tarantino for trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who was a last out fourth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and is No. 22 on the leaderboard with nine points.

Both Spielberg and Tarantino are owned by the same five other owners who also own Freedom Fighter.

Wolf said that the ownership group is an enjoyable one to be involved with.

“I've been friends with Tom [Ryan of SF Racing] a number of years,” said Wolf. “He talked to me about getting together with SF and then Sol came along as well. It's a really fun group of people. All of us have been through the highs and lows and we all have a good time, win, lose or draw.

“We've got two of the best trainers in the business,” Wolf added. “Bob doesn't get too excited until April, which is probably the right thing. I think if you have one that's qualified and doing well by April, then you can get excited. The end of a horse's 2-year-old year and the beginning of the following year is too early, but we all like to dream.”

Having traveled the road to the Kentucky Derby many times, Wolf said he knows not to get too carried away with Derby fever.

“There's so many variables between now and then, but it's cool to have nice horses and be in this position,” Wolf said.

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