Tag: Life Is Good

Life Is Good rolled up a 112 Beyer Speed Figure and a 5 1/2-length victory in last month's John A. Nerud Stakes. He's the 6/5 morning line favorite to win one of the biggest older horse races in the country: The Whitney. (Image: NYRA Photo)

The Whitney: The Summer Proving Ground for Older Horses

You almost get the feeling that with Life Is Good and Olympiad heading the marquee for Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, this 1 1/8-mile race sets up as more than one of the top older horse dirt races in the country. It sets up as a something-to-prove test. Because […]

Flightline, seen here working out at Santa Anita in early July, will be the favorite in the first Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wager pool. That new future wager begins next week. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

New Breeders’ Cup Classic Future Wager Pool Closes Wagering Hole

Taking a page from their Churchill Downs counterparts, the Breeders’ Cup took a long-awaited, beneficial step for horseplayers, instituting future wagering on the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Breeders’ Cup future wager not only borrows a page from Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pools, it cribs the […]

Shedaresthedevil owns three Grade 1 victories, including this 2020 score in the Kentucky Oaks. But she comes into Saturday's Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs 0-for-her-last-5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Mandaloun, Life Is Good, Speaker’s Corner Head Cross Country Pick 5

Last year’s Kentucky Derby champion, two of the most dynamic sprinters in the country, and a multiple Grade 1 winner looking for redemption headline this week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 is an all-stakes sequence. The week’s races come from Belmont […]

Country Grammer and Frankie Dettori pulled away for a 1 3/4-length victory over Hot Rod Charlie to win the $12 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup. (Image: Dubai Racing Club/Cedric Lane)

Country Grammer Writes a Brilliant Finish to Dubai World Cup

Country Grammer left clues in last month’s Saudi Cup he was just about back. In Saturday’s Dubai World Cup, he announced in rousing fashion he was all the way back. The 5-year-old Bob Baffert charge and 9/1 offering in international odds ran down front-running 2/5 favorite Life Is Good over […]

Life Is Good works out this week before Saturday's $12 million Dubai World Cup. He is the 4/5 international morning line favorite. (Image: Erika Rasmussen)

Life Is Good Leads Strong American Parade Into Dubai World Cup

The Dubai World Cup features Life Is Good and his better-than-good speed, Hot Rod Charlie and his better-than-good tenacity, Country Grammer and his better-than-good ability at this distance and Midnight Bourbon and his better-than-good money finishes. All competing for a better-than-great $12 million purse at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Post […]

Superstar sprinter Flightline will race next Feb. 5 in the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Next race for Super Sprinter Flightline: The February 5 San Carlos Stakes

The question on when standout sprinter Flightline would run again got answered on Sunday when trainer John Sadler said he’d run in the Feb. 5 Grade 2 San Carlos at Santa Anita. The seven-furlong San Carlos fits Sadler’s early-season itinerary. It also allows the son of Tapit to stay home, […]

Knicks Go opened his 2021 season winning the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational. He hopes to close his stellar career becoming the first repeat winner in event history Saturday. (Image: Gulfstream Park)

Knicks Go, Life Is Good Make Pegasus World Cup a Two-Horse Race

A “happy, fresh, and full of himself” Knicks Go will defend his Pegasus World Cup Invitational title Saturday on the rail as the 6/5 morning-line favorite. That’s the result of Tuesday’s post-position draw for the $3 million Grade 1 event. The presumptive favorite to be named Horse of the Year […]

Sir Winston shocked everyone but his trainer when he and Joel Rosario won the 2019 Belmont Stakes at 14/1. After a rocky 2020 and resurgent 2021, the 6-year-old horse takes his shot in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Can This Pegasus Trip Be What Belmont Champ Sir Winston Needs?

One trip abroad nearly cost Sir Winston his career. Another trip abroad saved it. And now, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner comes into Saturday’s $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational as a mature, fresh 6-year-old. His trainer, Mark Casse, thinks the son of Awesome Again could be awesome […]

The 51st Eclipse Awards winners will be announced Feb. 10. Sixteen of the 17 finalist categories were announced Saturday. (Image: NTRA)

Few Surprises Revealed as Eclipse Award Finalists Announced

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the Daily Racing Form announced the finalists for the 2021 Eclipse Awards on Saturday. The list of finalists did not include Horse of the Year candidates, for which Knicks Go is a virtual certainty. Instead, finalists in 16 of […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. points the way for Life Is Good after his dominant Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victory last month. The next stop on the colt's race itinerary is the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Pletcher Points Life Is Good Toward Pegasus World Cup Invitational

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner and Eclipse Award candidate Life Is Good will open his 4-year-old season in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, a race trainer Todd Pletcher lacks on his Hall of Fame resume. Pletcher won the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational last year with Colonel Liam, […]

Jackie's Warrior and Joel Rosario used this Grade 2 Gallant Bob romp as a Breeders' Cup Sprint tune-up. After finishing a disappointing sixth, Jackie's Warrior suffered a bone chip that puts him on teh shelf until 2022. (Image: Chad B. Harmon)

Jackie’s Warrior Has Bone Chip Removed, Will Return in 2022

Standout sprinter Jackie’s Warrior joined other 2021 stars on the operating table last week, undergoing surgery for a bone chip in his left knee at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Kentucky. Dr. Larry Bramlage, who this week performed shin surgery on 2-year-old star Jack Christopher, did the procedure. The […]

A familiar sight: Pursuers vainly chasing Knicks Go. The 5-year-old beat sophomores Medina Spirit, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie to win the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday at Del Mar. (Image: AP Photo)

Breeders’ Cup Day 2: Land of Knicks Go, Rising Sun and Falling Favorites

Now that the Breeders’ Cup Classic performed its designated coronation, you can start engraving Knicks Go’s name on the Horse of the Year trophy now. Avoid the rush, which Knicks Go splendidly did at Del Mar Saturday evening. He broke out to his patented early lead and turned aside all […]

Following Sea and Joel Rosario wired the field in Saturday's Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park. This victory gives trainer Todd Pletcher options on which Breeders' Cup race the 3-year-old will run. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Following Sea’s Vosburgh Victory Gives Pletcher Enviable Options

Even as he reveled in Following Sea’s gate-to-wire victory in Saturday’s six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park, trainer Todd Pletcher said he planned lengthier travels for his 3-year-old. “He’s a very talented horse and trains very impressively. He’s also galloped out in a fashion that would indicate he […]

Life Is Good returns to action in Saturday's Grade 2 Kelso Stakes at Belmont Park. He'll return with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons instead of usual pilot Mike Smith, seen here.. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Life Is Good Looms Large Over Small Kelso Field

Coming out of a layoff into a Grade 1 proved a minor annoyance for Life Is Good. Now, the 3-year-old standout will face another hurdle when he takes on older horses for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 2 Kelso at Belmont Park. When we last saw Life Is Good […]

Last time out at Saratoga, Jackie's Warrior splashed to a 7 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Amsterdam. He's the even-money favorite to win Saturday's Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Drain the Clock: This Jerkens is Wide Open

The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial draws its name from the legendary New York trainer who earned a well-deserved reputation for springing massive upsets. Among Jerkens’ victims were the distinguished likes of Kelso, Buckpasser, Cougar II, and Forego. Then, there was Secretariat. Two Jerkens also-rans defeated the 20th century’s greatest Thoroughbred: […]