The Invincibles Flight route has achieved some pretty surprising achievements this year.
One of the most surprising things is that he turned Life is good become the weak.
As 4-year-old Life Is Good enters the final race of his career at the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on November 5 at KeenelandFor the first time in his career, he is in a unique position that is not a favorite bet.
“It’s going to be a different feeling,” coach Todd Pletcher said of CHC and WinStar Farm’s son Into Mischief . “Every time we dealt with him, he was a lover of the odds and was expected to win.”
That won’t be the case Saturday. Although Life is Good was the earliest favorite for the title of Horse of the Year 2022 after he beat the Horse of the Year 2021 Knicks Go in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes presented by 1 / ST BET (G1), Flightline became the darling of the racing world after winning the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) 19 1/4 distances apart. Top-ranked horse in Longines’ World’s Best Racehorse rating, Flightline was on the 3-5 morning favorites in the 1 1/4 mile Classic.
Life Is Good, who will start life as a stallion at WinStar Farm after Classic, isn’t even pegged as second pick in field eight. That honor went to the winner of Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) Epicenter (5-1). Life Is Good, whose lone loss in five starts in 2022 is a 4th-place finish at the Emirates Airline-sponsored Dubai World Cup (G1) at the same 10-point gap as the Classic, are listed with score 6-1.
That price is too great compared to the odds in each of Life Is Good’s 11 careers. He is yet to be sent off at 4-5 odds and has been 1-5 or less in five games – all won.
“In a way, it’s a little easier to be the underdog,” says Pletcher. “He’s doing great. We’re looking forward to running him and we’ll see how it goes. It’s been the toughest race he’s been in and I’d say it’s possible. will be the toughest race for Flightline.”
While the Classic will mark the final beginning of Life Is Good, Pletcher finds a lot of comfort in knowing that the speed pony will be well received as a stallion.
“That’s what you set out to achieve when training any of these ponies. If you can find them a spot on the stallion list, you’ve accomplished your goal. In his case, he is an extremely talented horse. He has every trait you would want in a potential stallion from great form to tremendous speed. he’s one of the top prospects to come out for years to come. It’s exciting to watch them go and hopefully reinvent themselves,” Pletcher said. “He’s part of an excellent group of four-year-olds with some outstanding stallion prospects and I would have to put him at the top of the list.”
Winner of last year’s Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Life Is Good owns four #1 wins out of a record nine wins in 11 starts. Bred by Gary and Mary West Stables and purchased for $525,000 from Paramount Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, he made $4,361,700.
