WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s Life Is Good, now a four-time Grade 1 winner, garnered a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday's Woodward (G1) at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the accomplished Life Is Good broke sharply from the inside post under regular pilot Irad Ortiz Jr. and was quickly maneuvered off the rail and into the three-path to lead the compact field of four at each point of call with Law Professor tracking in third.
At the three-quarters call, Law Professor was called on by Jose Ortiz to take up second position and make his run at Life Is Good, swinging three-wide and steadily making up ground. Life Is Good dug in when asked by Ortiz, Jr., drifting out a bit in the stretch while Law Professor inched closer. Life Is Good would not be denied, and valiantly fought off Law Professor's game bid to secure the victory in a final time of 1:49.57 in his first outing over sloppy going. It was another 10 1/4 lengths back to Pletcher's other trainee, Keepmeinmind, in third.
Pletcher said he was pleased with Life Is Good's effort, noting the demanding fractions late into the race.
“They were coming home pretty good. The last three-eighths went in :36 and one, and going a mile and an eighth, it's hard to come home that fast, especially on an off and heavy racetrack,” said Pletcher. “I thought it was probably a little better than people might consider just looking at the final margin. Law Professor ran a good race and I'm happy to accomplish what we were hoping to.”
The win was Life Is Good's third Grade 1 this year, adding to scores in the Whitney in August at Saratoga Race Course and Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park. His lone start at 1 1/4 miles was an even fourth-place effort in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup in March.
Pletcher said he is confident the 4-year-old son of Into Mischief will handle stretching back out to 10 furlongs in the $6-million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 5 at Keeneland.
“From all indicators talking to [WinStar President/CEO] Elliott [Walden] and those guys yesterday, we're focused on the Classic,” said Pletcher. “He'll ship to Keeneland tomorrow afternoon and train towards that. If you watch yesterday, he continued to gallop out past the wire. All of his training has given us the confidence he'll do it.”
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