To grasp the star energy within the Massive Ass Followers Breeders’ Cup Grime Mile (G1), contemplate that the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner is among the many starters and he isn’t the standout.
That alone speaks volumes about Life Is Good , a son of Into Mischief who has yet to win a grade 1 stakes but was installed as the 4-5 favorite from post 5 for the the $1 million Dirt Mile Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Whereas he won’t be a Met Mile winner like Silver State , Life Is Good has sparked the kind of daydreams that are rampant among 3-year-olds in the spring or late winter.
Not the fall.
But WinStar Farm and China Horse Club’s Life Is Good seems as worthy of an exception to that rule of thumb as anyone could find.
If something, the late summer season and fall have been a renaissance of kinds, resurrecting the extreme enthusiasm that Life Is Good impressed in early March. Again then, the grade 2 winner was undefeated in three begins for coach Bob Baffert and his mixed successful margin of 18 1/4 lengths painted him as a number one 3-year-old for the Kentucky Derby Introduced by Woodford Reserve (G1).
“I’ve all the time thought he could possibly be a brilliant horse,” Baffert after Life Is Good’s dazzling March 6 eight-length victory over fellow Baffert stablemate Medina Spirit within the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe Stakes (G2).
Then ankle chips and surgical procedure to take away them sidelined the colt for practically six months throughout a time when the world round him modified.
Baffert gained the Kentucky Derby with Medina Spirit, however that colt failed two post-race drug assessments that solid a darkish cloud over the end result and led to suspensions of the Corridor of Fame coach by Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Affiliation, prompting Life Is Good’s connections to focus on races on the East Coast and transfer him into coach Todd Pletcher’s barn.
Life Is Good lastly returned to the races Aug. 28 and has turned in two stellar efforts to reclaim his spot among the many high 3-year-olds and dispel any notion that the surgical procedure had sapped a few of his pace. His debut for Pletcher was a really sport second to a number of grade 1 winner Jackie’s Warrior in the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. A month later, within the Kelso Handicap (G2), a one-turn mile take a look at at Belmont Park, he confronted older horses for the primary time and cemented his function because the heavy favourite for the Grime Mile by cruising to a front-running, 5 1/2-length victory in a fast 1:34.37 as a 1-20 favourite.
“He’s an especially proficient horse and it is thrilling to see him race,” mentioned WinStar CEO, president, and racing supervisor Elliott Walden concerning the colt bred by Gary and Mary West and bought for $525,000 from the Paramount Gross sales consignment on the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. “I put him up there with the perfect horses I’ve ever been round, horses like (2018 Triple Crown champion) Justify .”
Silver State is coming off a thrilling battle with Mind Control in the Parx Dirt Mile Stakes.
Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables’ 5-year-old Mind Control grabbed the lead in mid-stretch of that Sept. 25 race, only to have Silver State rally from last and pass him. Yet in those final yards, Mind Control found another gear to prevail by a head.
Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing’s Silver State pushed his winning streak to six June 5 when he captured the one-turn Met Mile, beating Knicks Go , one of the favorites in the $6 million Longines Breeders Cup Classic (G1). Since then he finished third behind Knicks Go in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes (G1) and second in the Parx Dirt Mile at Parx Racing.
A Hard Spun colt bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, he has won seven of 13 starts for trainer Steve Asmussen, whose already memorable 2021 campaign includes scoring nine grade 1 wins and becoming North America’s all-time leader in wins.
“For any horse to win six races in a row, especially when those victories included races as well-regarded as the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Met Mile, is pretty incredible and puts him in a special category,” co-owner Ron Winchell said about the 4-year-old who will stand at Claiborne Farm at the conclusion of his racing career.
Among the others in the field are Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) victor Ginobili , the Baffert-trained grade 1 winner Eight Rings , and Pingxiang rom Japan.
Eight Rings, a 4-year-old son of Empire Maker who will be a stallion at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud following his racing career, won the American Pharaoh Stakes (G1) at 2, but then lost six straight races until he captured his last start, an Oct. 2 allowance optional claimer at Santa Anita Park.
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