West Will Power, owned and bred by Gary and Mary West, is under consideration for either next Saturday's GI Whitney S. or the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Sept. 2 at the Spa.

“It's a very prestigious race. It means a lot,” Cox said of the Whitney. “We'll see how things unfold after this work and make a decision a little bit later. We'll speak with the West team and come up with a plan.”

The Cox-trained Verifying (Justify), a narrow winner of the GIII Indiana Derby, worked a half mile in :48.75 (13/53) in company with the maiden Fighting Back (Lookin At Lucky) over the Oklahoma training track.

Cox said that Verifying will point to the seven-furlong GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Aug. 26 at Saratoga.

“He went a really good half. I wasn't looking to do a whole lot with him, but he was on it,” Cox said. “He was ready to do something.”

Charge It Breezes for Whitney…

'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), a front-running winner of the GII Suburban S. last out downstate, worked a half mile in :48.77 (28/101) Saturday morning over the main track in his final tune up for next Saturday's Whitney.

“I thought it was excellent,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He did it well in hand and looked good doing it. I've been very pleased with the way he's trained since the Suburban.”

Pletcher continued, “He's a horse that's always trained really strongly and shown hints that he's capable to run a big race. His (GIII) Dwyer was brilliant. His Suburban, I thought, was his most professional race. He's starting to put it all together consistently. It's a very tall order going up against the best older horses in training, but we're happy with the way he's coming into it.”

Pletcher added that fellow 'Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), fifth in the GI Haskell, will target the GI Travers S. Aug. 26.

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The Godolphin homebred is currently on a six-race winning streak topped by a powerful 3 1/4-length score last out in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 10 at Belmont Park.

“He was very good. He went five eighths and went well and appeared to be well within himself,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “We're uncertain about the nine furlongs (in the Whitney), but we're going to remain optimistic. Until they do it, you never know. Maybe now that he's more mature than he was early on, maybe he'll do it. He's more seasoned.”

His stablemate and last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Elite Power (Curlin) worked a bullet five eighths in :59.60 (1/13) Friday over the Oklahoma training track and could make two starts at the Spa for Mott this summer in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. July 29 and the GI Forego S. Aug. 26.

“His work was very good,” Mott said. “He'll go to the Vanderbilt and then possibly the Forego.”

Cox Barn Loaded for the Spa…

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel (Mizzen Mast) worked a half-mile in :48.88 (6/20) Saturday over the Oklahoma training turf as she prepares to take on the boys in the GIII Troy S., a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older horses Aug. 5.

“Really good. She's an outstanding workhorse,” trainer Brad Cox said of the last out GI Jaipur S. winner. “It's her first move up here on the turf. She breezed last weekend at Churchill. It's just a maintenance move and she's doing great. She's pointing to the Troy right now.”

He continued, “Physically, she looks amazing. She's happy. I don't know if we need her to get any better, she just has to continue to be as good as she's been the first half of the year. If we can duplicate that in the second half, we'll be in great shape.”

The stretch-running Wet Paint (Blame), fourth as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks and second in the Monomoy Girl S. June 17, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 (6/15) Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for next Saturday's GI Coaching Club American Oaks.

“Really good move this morning. She went five-eighths from the half in 1:00.60 and out in 1:13.60,” Cox said. “She's not the flashiest workhorse, but this morning she was on it and she was wanting to do it. I loved what I saw from her. She's set up for a big run next week.”

West Will Power (Bernardini), winner of the GI Stephen Foster S. July 1, worked a half mile in :51.40 (88/95) at Churchill Downs Saturday in preparation for a possible start in the GI Whitney Aug. 5.

“It was just a really easy half mile and if all is well he make the trip up this week,” Cox said.

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg), who dead-heated for fourth last out in the GI Belmont S., worked five eighths in company in 1:00.90 (5/13) Friday over the Oklahoma training track.

“Very good move. I'm very happy with them,” Cox said.

Both horses will point to the nine-furlong GII Jim Dandy S. July 29 with an eye towards the 10-furlong GI Travers S. Aug. 26.

“I don't know if any of these horses want to run a mile and a half, but they ran big races in the Belmont and got really good figures,” Cox said. “They've had time to recover and had some really good moves down at Churchill.”

Tapit Trice Haskell Bound… 

'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), a close third in the GI Belmont S., breezed a half mile in :49.15 (27/84) over the Belmont Park main track on Saturday in preparation for the GI Haskell Invitational on July 22 at Monmouth Park.

“He just did what he normally does which is work well and gallop out strongly,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He was moving great. It was everything we wanted to see.”

Luis Saez will ride Tapit Trice in the Haskell.

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Highlighted by the GI Travers S. card Aug. 26, the 2023 summer meet will open on Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4.

Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from the final week, when the meet will conclude on Labor Day.

First post time is 1:10 p.m. Eastern with the exception of GI Whitney S. and Travers Days and throughout closing weekend. Admission gates will open for live racing at 11 a.m. for all but the Travers Day card when gates will open at 7 a.m.

The lucrative Travers Day card, which will have an 11:40 a.m. first post, features five Grade I stakes.

Whitney Day on Saturday, Aug. 5, which offers a 12:35 p.m. first post, provides a trio of Grade I events.

Closing Weekend of the Saratoga meet from Saturday, September 2, through Monday, September 4, will offer a 12:40 p.m. post time.

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Cody's Wish (Curlin) added another chapter to racing's feel-good story with a powerful, come-from-behind victory in the stallion-making GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H.

The GI Kentucky Oaks winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) validated her upset neck victory on the first Friday in May with a heart-stopping victory in the GI Acorn S.

The up-and-coming Loved (Medaglia d'Oro)–a 4-year-old half-sister to MGISW and young Darley stallion Maxfield (Street Sense)–made it three straight runaway wins with a 12-length victory in an optional claimer in the Ellis slop on Sunday.

The 'Boys in Blue' also won last Friday's GII Belmont Gold Cup with Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and finished third with both 425,000gns TATOCT buy Ottoman Fleet (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (the lone auction purchase of the group) in Saturday's GI Manhattan S. and 'TDN Rising Star' Strobe (Into Mischief) in the GII True North S., respectively.

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack caught up with Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan earlier this week to discuss some of the highlights from last weekend as well as domestic summer plans for Sheikh Mohammed's high-powered global operation. Banahan also provided an update on 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense), who was a late scratch from last month's GI Preakness S.

Q: Cody's Wish seems like a good place to start. He made it six straight wins while matching his previous career high Beyer Speed Figure of 112 in the Met Mile. Bill Mott said a title defense in the seven-furlong GI Forego S. (at Saratoga Aug. 26) could be in the cards for Cody's Wish later this summer, but also left the door open for potentially stretching him out to 1 1/8 miles for the GI Whitney S. (at Saratoga Aug. 5). Has there been much dialogue yet regarding his summer campaign?

MB: It's certainly a good discussion point. It's just unfortunate that there's not really any race at his distance that suits at the moment. And it's a long time from the first week in June until the last weekend in August. So, we'll have to decide what's the best route for him. He's gone over a mile a couple of times unsuccessfully (finished third going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga second out in 2021 and finished a close second in the GIII Challenger S. at Tampa last March), but there's probably reasons for that. We feel like he's a better racehorse now than he was 12 months ago. He's more professional and Junior Alvarado has gotten to know him and rides him very well.

We also have (2022 GI Clark S. winner and this year's GI Santa Anita H. runner-up and GII Oaklawn H. winner) Proxy (Tapit) that's gonna run in the (GI) Stephen Foster (S. at Ellis Park July 1), hopefully. Those races that are 1 1/8-miles plus suit him very well. We'll probably wait until after he runs in the Stephen Foster, then see where the cards lay.

But the Whitney or the Forego are the two obvious races for Cody's Wish. We'll just wait and see. It's a wonderful position to be in.

We saw what he did last weekend in the Met Mile and it was another step up for him. He just seems to be getting to a different level. It's hard to tell if they want to stay any further until you actually try them. They can gallop out well, but in all honestly, when you get to the winner line, that's the end of the race. It doesn't really count what you do afterwards.

Q: It's always great to see the Kentucky Oaks winner back up their form in the Acorn on Belmont Stakes weekend. Will Pretty Mischievous follow up in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 22?

MB: We might go in a little bit of a different direction with her. She has a lot of pace as we've seen in the Oaks and in the Acorn. She travels extremely well. We are very tempted to back her up a little bit and go in the (GI) Test (S. going seven furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 5) instead. We think that's a race that she has enough pace for and it might suit her even better. We'll have a good strong look at that. Nothing written in stone. We also have the Oaks favorite Wet Paint (Blame) drawn in this weekend in the Monomoy Girl S. at Ellis Park. We feel that the Coaching Club Oaks–depending how she gets on this weekend–might come into play for her.

Q: What's the excitement level like having a Kentucky Oaks winner and another sophomore filly of such a high caliber–and both homebreds–carry the Godolphin blue?

MB: We've always liked Pretty Mischievous. We never felt that she ever let us down, but she probably is only getting the respect that she deserves now. And maybe that's a little bit to do with her racing style where she sort of waits on horses a little bit and ends up being in tight finishes. We've always been very high on her and going into the Kentucky Oaks–I said it at the time–that I couldn't really separate the two fillies. And I still think that they're very equal talent wise.

I don't think we saw the best of Wet Paint that day (in the Oaks). Flavien Prat came back and said that she didn't really take to the Churchill surface as well as she did to Oaklawn. I might be a little bit biased, but the record is out there for everyone else to see that we maybe have the two best 3-year-old fillies in the country. We're very excited to see what the balance of the year will hold for them. We'll try to keep them separated from each other for the near future.

Q: She's missed a lot of time, but Maxfield's half-sister Loved continues to make up for it. She was super impressive once again winning over the weekend at Ellis Park, her third straight victory since sitting on the shelf for more than a year. The patient approach by Brendan Walsh certainly looks like it's all paying off now. Is there a stakes race with her name on it next out?

MB: We've been waiting on her a long time. Brendan had to be very patient with her. We were hoping to get her running down in Florida in the winter time and different things conspired where we didn't get a start in her. She's developed mentally and physically since. She was one filly that we were very much looking forward to getting back to the racetrack and seeing what she could do and she hasn't let us down. She's taking those nice building-block races and getting a little bit more experience every time. She looks like she's very talented. We'll take it slowly, but we're probably looking at the GIII Molly Pitcher on Haskell day (July 22) at Monmouth for her. She deserves to get into a graded race now and see where we are. If she stays healthy and well, we'll have some nice days down the road with her.

Q: First Mission's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. form was further flattered over the weekend when both Arabian Lion (Justify) (GI Woody Stephens S.) and Disarm (Gun Runner) (GIII Matt Winn S.) won impressively. Obviously a crushing blow to have to scratch him out of the Preakness last month. What's the latest on him?

MB: We're just giving him a little bit of time off. We'll regroup next month and see where we stand. Get him reevaluated and try and get him back on track again. No need to rehash our Preakness disappointment. But it was a pretty crushing one. We thought we had maybe the best horse in the race. But, anyway, we saw what Arabian Lion did in the Woody Stephens and we felt like we beat him pretty readily in the Lexington.

Look, First Mission is a very talented horse. We just look forward now rather than backwards and hopefully in the fall and next year we're gonna have an exceptionally nice horse for some big days down the road.

Q: What was the diagnosis? Was it an issue with his left hind leg that led to the time off?

MB: Not really, it was a little bit of bone bruising. Nothing major, relatively insignificant. We'll just give him that little bit of time (60 days off). He seems like he's doing OK and enjoying his time off. We're looking forward to getting him back going again.

Q: Glancing over her worktab, it looks like Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) has bounced out of her win in the GI Derby City Distaff S. on Kentucky Derby day in good form. What kind of targets does she have lined up for the summer and fall?

MB: It's a funny program. We had the Distaff set up nicely in the spring and then there's not any races at the Grade I level–the Breeders' Cup champion (Goodnight Olive) is having a run this weekend in a Grade II in New York (in the GII Bed O' Roses S.).

Matareya, we wanted to keep her at home. We're gonna run her in the (GIII) Chicago (S. at Ellis Park June 24). She obviously likes Churchill Downs and we were expecting to be running at Churchill Downs. But she'll take a day trip down to Ellis and hopefully lead us to the (GI) Ballerina (H. at Saratoga Aug. 26). She's doing well. We're very happy with her. She improved from her first race of the year at Oaklawn (second in Matron S.), which we were hoping would happen. There's some really nice sprinting fillies out there and she's at the top end of the table with them. We were delighted with her win at Churchill. She's tactically very astute and has that speed to put herself in a good position to win those type of races. Looking forward to a big second half of the year with her.

Q: Final question. Three Grade I victories over Kentucky Derby weekend, led by a win in the Kentucky Oaks, and another two during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, including the prestigious Met Mile. What does this level of success on racing's biggest stages–all with homebreds–mean for the operation?

MB: It's what we get out of bed every morning for. It's all the hard work over the previous years that lead up to that to try and develop these horses and get a broodmare band established that we feel like we have an opportunity to do so. It takes plenty of luck to get there as well. We had a massive Derby weekend and to back it up with Pretty Mischievous winning the Acorn and Cody's Wish winning the Met Mile–we were especially delighted to be able to provide the assist for Bill Mott to get his first Met Mile win.

They're the weekends you look forward to all year long and want to be winning on. We realize that we've been fortunate and on a great run here lately. It means everything to all of our people that work on the farms in Kentucky and also to Godolphin globally as well. We had people over from Europe and for them to see what we're achieving over here in America first hand was great. And back in Dubai for Godolphin's founder Sheikh Mohammed, who takes a great interest in how we're doing in America as well. I think he got a big kick out of seeing those horses perform at that level. We all have a great pep in our step on Monday morning after those big weekends.

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Prior to the start of the 2023 summer meet, the Whitney Viewing Stand, which overlooks the Oklahoma track, will be open to the public free of charge on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Friday, Apr. 21 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Highlighted by the GI Travers S. Aug. 26 and the GI Whitney S. Aug. 5, the 40-day summer meet will open on Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4.

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Highlighted by the 154th renewal of the $1.25-million GI Travers Aug. 26 and the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5, the 40-day summer meet will open Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4.

Whitney Day provides a trio of Grade I events, including the GI Test S. and the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational.

The Travers Festival offers nine stakes including six Grade Is from Wednesday, Aug. 23 through Saturday, Aug. 26. The lucrative Travers Day card features five Grade I stakes, including the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer, GI Ballerina H., GI Forego and GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.

Following the four-day opening weekend, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2023 summer meet will conclude on Labor Day.

Saratoga Live, the acclaimed television show produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, will return for its eighth season to provide expansive on-site daily coverage of the summer meet to a nationwide audience on the networks of FOX Sports.

The complete stakes schedule for the 2023 summer meet is available at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/stakes-schedule/.

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Running away to a 9 1/2-length debut romp and 'TDN Rising Star' honors for Bob Baffert in November of 2020 at Del Mar, the $525,000 Keeneland September graduate stamped himself as the early favorite for the GI Kentucky Derby after capturing the GIII Sham S. and GII San Felipe S., the latter by eight lengths for an eye-popping 107 Beyer. That would be his last start for Baffert, however, as an injury forced him off the Derby trail and he was transferred to Todd Pletcher with Baffert facing multiple suspensions for eventual Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s drug positive.

A hard-fought neck second to eventual champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) upon return in a thrilling renewal of the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. here last summer, Life Is Good cruised to open-lengths victories in the GII Kelso H., GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. before fading late to finish fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup. The bay returned no worse for the journey, however, a career-high 112 Beyer in a five-length conquest of the GII John A. Nerud S. July 2 at Belmont.

Backed to 85 cents on the dollar Saturday, Life Is Good could not have broken any better from his outside post and was in front in the blink of an eye. Kicking clear in a handful of strides, he was chased fairly closely by Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) and Olympiad (Speightstown) through a modest :23.64 quarter before turning on the jets down the backstretch and opening up by about four lengths past a half in :46.84. Hot Rod Charlie inched closer as Olympiad was asked for his best on the latter half of the far turn, and what looked like it would be a runaway score for Life Is Good suddenly became a horse race with Hot Rod Charlie and Happy Saver (Super Saver) eyeballing the favorite on either side as heads pointed for home.

Irad Ortiz, Jr., confident into the lane despite the creeping danger, quickly got to work on Life Is Good, who began to turn back the pair past mid-stretch. Shifting to the inside from a righty whip into Happy Saver's path while not quite interfering a furlong from home, Life Is Good held safe from there while still meandering a bit for a two-length success despite the valiant efforts of Happy Saver and Hot Rod Charlie, with the former narrowly edging the latter for second to complete a Todd Pletcher exacta. Olympiad was a one-paced fourth.

“He's a nice horse. He deserves all the credit,” said Ortiz. “When we got to the three-quarter pole and along the backside he changed leads and he just took off. Two jumps. He was strong. After that, I didn't want to fight too much with him. I was clear [in the stretch]. I looked and came [inside] a little bit. I know if he felt somebody that he would give me another run and more. I know he was coming back a little, the track is not that fast, so if he feels somebody he will fight. I know he will fight, so that is why I was looking.”

The win was the third in the Whitney in five years for Ortiz after scores aboard Improbable (City Zip) in 2020 and Diversify (Bellamy Road) in 2018.

“This means a lot,” he said. “It's a great race to win. I'm happy for the connections and the horse, too. He stayed and just never quit.”
“When you feel like you're bringing over the best horse, you worry about everything,” Pletcher, who moved within one of tying John M. Gaver, Sr. with his fourth Whitney win, added. “Today we got the rain, the deep track, the heat and humidity. All those things can be concerning, but he was able to overcome all of that and just show how brilliant he really is. To me it's the premier older horse race in the country outside of the Breeders' Cup Classic. So, it means a lot.”

Of his 14-1 runner-up finisher, Pletcher said, “Happy Saver ran super. He just kept finding. It looked like for a second like he was going to get right there. Johnny [Velazquez] said when he had to angle him off the rail, you could tell Life Is Good kind of found a little more. I was proud of his effort. We'll see what's next, we could wait for the Woodward or come back for the Jockey Club [Gold Cup]. We've got some options.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado said of Olympiad, who had his five-race winning streak snapped with a 9 1/4-length defeat, “He didn't run at all. He didn't run his race. Not even close. If he ran his race at least I'd say, 'We finished second.' But he didn't run his race. At the half-mile I knew I was in trouble. He wasn't traveling or picking it up like he normally does. I gave him a chance to regroup at the three-eighths and start picking it up again to see if he would start doing it and nothing. At that point I knew he wasn't showing up. No excuses for the track [conditions]. Good horses are supposed to handle the track and anything else. That is not the excuse. If he had a problem with the track he should at least try to the eighth pole, but he was done very early for me.”

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 111 stakes victors, 51 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 a juvenile Blame filly named Living Good who worked a best-of-53 bullet from the gate in :47 flat Saturday at Ellis, 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.

Saturday, Saratoga
WHITNEY S.-GI, $925,000, Saratoga, 8-6, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.97, gd.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 124, 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. $535,000. Lifetime Record:
10-8-1-0, $4,086,700. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Happy Saver, 118, h, 5, Super Saver–Happy Week, by
Distorted Humor. O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $185,000. 'TDN Rising Star'.
3–Hot Rod Charlie, 124, c, 4, Oxbow–Indian Miss, by Indian
Charlie. ($17,000 Ylg '19 FTKFEB; $110,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT).
O-Boat Racing, LLC, Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck),
Roadrunner Racing & William Strauss; B-Edward A. Cox (KY);
T-Doug F. O'Neill. $100,000.
Margins: 2, HD, 7 1/4. Odds: 0.85, 13.50, 4.00.
Also Ran: Olympiad, Zoomer. Scratched: Americanrevolution.
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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Later in the show, following up a profitable first week of his handicapping segment sponsored by the Breeders' Cup in which he gave out $17.60 Haskell winner Cyberknife (Gun Runner), Bianca lays out his plays for Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, a star-studded Win and You're In qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Up next for Life Is Good in a season that could yield an Eclipse Award and possibly even a Horse of the Year title is the $1-million GI Whitney S. Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. The historic Whitney, first run in 1928 as a memorial to Payne Whitney, who had died the previous year, has long been the pre-eminent race for older horses on the Saratoga schedule. Life Is Good heads the group of three horses that the Hall of Fame trainer will enter Wednesday morning and is likely to be the favorite in the nine-furlong contest. Pletcher is also entering Happy Saver (Super Saver) and Americanrevolution (Constitution), but acknowledged that Americanrevolution is not a lock to be in the race.

At the start of the meet, Pletcher answered a question about the 4-year-old's breeze by describing Life Is Good as an elite-level Thoroughbred.

“I think people who clock horses and watch a lot of horses breeze, we can appreciate just how special he is,” Pletcher said. “You just don't see too many do that and over the years, we'll kind of identify some horses as what we call 'one-percenters.' You know, the top one percenters. And he's kind of in the top 1% of the 1%.”

For Pletcher, that's pretty much gushing praise.

“He's just a super-talented horse,” Pletcher said this week. “He's so consistent, not only in his racing, but his training. Just loves what he does. He comes out every day with enthusiasm. Every breeze is good. Seems to be coming up to this race as good as any since we've got him.”

Since being transferred by his co-owners WinStar Farm and China Horse Club from trainer Bob Baffert to Pletcher early last summer, Life Is Good has won the GII Kelso, the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the GII John A. Nerud. He was second by a neck to champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens in his debut for Pletcher and ended up fourth after leading much of the way in the G1 Dubai World Cup.

The Whitney is expected to draw the Bill Mott-trained Olympiad (Speightstown), winner of all five of his starts this year, and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who has a pair of Grade I victories on his resume and has earned over $5 million.

“Good horses,” Pletcher said. “Hot Rod Charlie's a warrior. He's run some top-class races and Olympiad has, too. It's just the kind of field you'd expect you have to contend against in the Whitney.”

Life Is Good, bred by Gary and Mary West, was purchased for $525,000 as a 2019 Keeneland yearling. He easily won his only start as a 2-year-old and opened his 3-year-old campaign with victories in the GIII Sham and the GII San Felipe. An injury knocked him off the Triple Crown trail in March and he was moved to Pletcher's care when he resumed training in June.

Considering his strong body of work, Pletcher said it was hard to pick out one start as Life Is Good's best performance.

“I think all of his races have in some ways been impressive, even in Dubai, when he's running in quicksand,” he said. “But I thought the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile was awfully impressive. He just basically took it to them from the first step, and to carve out fractions like he did, and then win convincingly.”

From that high mark to end 2021, Pletcher said there have been more stellar outings this season.

“He came back in the Pegasus and it kind of looked like a race with two horses, with Knicks Go (Paynter)–similar style, kind of free-running,” Pletcher said. “We were committed to allowing our horse to run his race. He kind of broke well and took it to him. I thought both of those races were super-impressive. And then even the Nerud last time. Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) is coming off some big races and same thing, he just kind of took it to him. He's got so much natural speed and such a high- cruising speed and his ability to carry it over a distance of ground is what makes him so unique and so successful.”

Since winning the seven-furlong Nerud on July 2, Life is Good has breezed three times on the main track at Saratoga. On Saturday, he worked four furlongs in :48.25 under exercise rider Amelia Green. It was the eighth-fastest of 98 works at the distance.

Pletcher said even though Life Is Good is eager in the mornings, it is not correct to call him an easy horse to train.

“It takes a skilled rider and Amelia has done a great job with him,” Pletcher said. “She has been able to get him to relax some. He enjoys his training. If he were allowed to, he would over do it.”

WinStar and China Horse Club also own Americanrevolution, winner of the GI Cigar Mile in December. Pletcher said he definitely will be entered in the Whitney, but called him an insurance policy.

“You never know what can happen and have an off day,” he said. “By having another horse in there gives you some added security that way.”

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver will start, Pletcher said. Never worse than third in 10 career starts, Happy Saver has been the runner-up in four-straight races, three of them Grade I events.

“He's a Grade I-winning horse and the options were pretty much to run him in the Alydar,” Pletcher said. “For a Grade I winner to drop down in class like that we didn't really feel like it would hold much significance. If the top horses didn't fire for some reason or got battled a bit in a speed duel you never know what could happen.”

Most of the attention in the Whitney at the “Graveyard of Favorites” will be on Life Is Good and whether he can give Pletcher his fourth victory in the race and first since Cross Traffic in 2013.

“He's a very willing horse every day,” Pletcher said. “Very generous. He wants to compete. If he sees a horse on the racetrack while he's galloping his natural instinct is he wants to engage that horse and pass him. It's great to have that, but we also don't want him to overachieve on a daily basis. That's what we tried to focus on, trying to keep him as settled and relaxed as we can and yet allow him to be himself.”

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Life Is Good, this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. romper, bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the G1 Dubai World Cup with a dominant five-length score in Saturday's GII John Nerud S. at Belmont, earning a 112 Beyer, tied for the second-highest figure of 2022.

“He came back excellent,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “We felt confident that he had maintained his form based on the way he had trained, but it's nice to see him go over and live up to expectations.”

Also pointing to the $1-million Whitney, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, is Saturday's GII Stephen Foster S. hero Olympiad (Speightstown). The Bill Mott-trained bay has surged to the upper echelon of the handicap division by going unbeaten in five starts this year, including four graded stakes, and earned a career-best 111 Beyer for his 2 1/4-length victory Saturday at Churchill.

“The goal is to get him a Grade I win,” Mott said Sunday. “We've always thought about running him in the Whitney. So I'd say that would be the next likely target.”

Pletcher said Life Is Good is ready for a potential clash with Olympiad, and added that it's possible his Foster runner-up Americanrevolution (Constitution) could contest the Whitney as well.

“Olympiad is on quite a streak himself and you'd always expect the Whitney to be a difficult race, but we're very pleased with the way that [Life Is Good] is doing,” the Hall of Fame trainer said.

Pletcher also reported that Charge It (Tapit) came out of his staggering 23-length rout in Saturday's GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont in good order and will point to the GI Travers S. Aug. 27 at the Spa. Charge It earned a 111 Beyer for Saturday's tour de force, easily the top number earned by a 3-year-old thus far in 2022.

“We thought he would run well, and you never think of one winning by that type of margin, but he's a colt that we've always been very high on and he's always trained like a horse that was capable of great things,” Pletcher said. “He's starting to get a bit more maturity and seasoning now and I still think there's room for improvement. [The Travers] is what we're thinking and that's the goal. We're very pleased with the way he ran and I feel like as he matures, he's trained like a horse that a mile and a quarter is within his range.”

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