Life Is Good winning the G1 Woodward Stakes
Life Is Good is now the highest prize money earner China Horse Club has ever raced following his weekend success in the USD465,000 G1 Woodward Stakes (USA).
The determined win in the slop of Aqueduct Racecourse lifted his career earnings to USD4.3 million – a mark superior to the recently retired State of Rest (USD3.8mil), the undefeated Justify (USD3.8 mil), Irish based stallion Australia (USD3.5mil) six-time G1 winner Abel Tasman (USD2.8mil) and WinStar Farm based sire Improbable (USD2.8mil).
Life Is Good’s win was also an exclamation on a weekend which also included heady results in Australia:
- Empire of Japan (co-owned): 1st AUD200,000 G3 Breeders’ Plate
- Perfect Proposal (bred & co-owned): 2nd AUD200,000 G3 Gimcrack Stakes
- Communist (bred & co-owned): 2nd AUD250,000 Listed Dulcify Stakes
The G1 Woodward was Life Is Good’s fourth career G1 win _ his third this season _ a tally equal to the above mentioned Justify and Improbable. Undefeated in the USA this season, Life Is Good joins an honour roll of Woodward Stakes luminaries including Forego (1974 – 1977), Cigar (1995, 1996), Seattle Slew (1978), Affirmed (1979), Spectacular Bid (1980), Kelso (1961, 1962) and more recently Ghostzapper (2004), Curlin (2008) and Yoshida (2018) who raced in the same ownership.
Summary of Life Is Good’s achievements following the G1 Woodward Stakes:
- Highest prize money earner ever raced (outright or in partnership) by China Horse Club
- 4th G1 win and 3rd this season – equal to Justify and Improbable
- Undefeated in USA in 2022
- 1st horse since Gun Runner to win the G1 Whitney and G1 Woodward Stakes in the same season
Extensive rain may have robbed the G1 Woodward Stakes of a breakout performance, blunting the scintillating speed that is the hallmark of Life Is Good. However, it allowed the exceptional four-year-old to refresh memories of his other qualities when delivering an exhibition of grit and purpose.
“Part of [Life Is Good’s] brilliance is being able to go fast and keep going,” trainer Todd Pletcher said in reference to the approach taken to the wet track conditions.
“It was the logical tactics for today, but I don’t think it’s his preferred running style. His real weapon is his high-cruising speed and the ability to keep going.
“I was confident that [Life Is Good] would respond when asked, but it was his first time over a sealed off track, and this track has not been playing real fast since the meet began.
“This was one of those, where there was only one satisfactory outcome and that’s to win. We wanted to make sure we did that, while also keeping in mind that we have a bigger goal in five weeks, so we tried to balance that out the best we could.”
The wet surface had a clear impact in the eyes of jockey Irad Ortiz.
“The track didn’t help too much – it’s not that fast. [Life Is Good] relaxed and I didn’t have use him [too much]. He just was quiet. He was relaxed and we waited and he gave me everything he had from the quarter pole to the wire. If I asked him a little earlier, he could go faster and keep going.”
Life Is Good will ship to Kentucky this week ahead of his preparation for the season ending Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
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