Life Is Good
Life Is Good has taken his place alongside other alpha males on WinStar Farm’s star stallion roster after closing his racing career with a performance of speed and heart that set the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships alight.
The four-time G1 winner was unable to crown his racing career with a second Breeders’ Cup success in the USD6,000,000 G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic after his near six length demolition of the 2021 G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
In almost any other year the accumulated G1 successes across 2022 of the G1 Pegasus World Cup (over 2021 Eclipse Horse of the Year Knicks Go), G1 Whitney Stakes and G1 Woodward Stakes would have seen Life Is Good anointed as the champion of his generation and Eclipse Horse of the Year. A measure of his commercial appeal and market appreciation is that he will be fully booked at a debut fee of no less than USD100,000. But not every year has a performer of the stature of Flightline.
“You never want to be beaten but there was no loss in reputation after that performance from Life Is Good. There is every argument his reputation was enhanced,” said Eden Harrington, Vice President of China Horse Club.
“Flightline has earned the right to be placed in the pantheon of the greats of American racing. There isn’t another dirt horse around who could have sat on Life Is Good’s bumper like that and then sprinted away. There is certainly no dishonour at all in being the second best horse in America behind Flightline.”
CHC’s Teo Ah Khing and Johanna Teo with Life Is Good (photo by Christie DeBernardis)
There is a salient argument that Life Is Good has played a considerable role in defining the future legacy of Flightline’s racing career. Like Joe Fraser and George Foreman to Mohammed Ali, Life Is Good tested Flightline’s greatness in a manner previously unseen and, in doing so, played a pivotal role in ensuring the 2022 USD6,000,000 G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic delivered on its build up as an epic.
The WinStar Farm and China Horse Club’s superstar race. And race to win.
He ran a hole in the wind at a blustery Keeneland searing off sectionals that, with due respect to the eventual winners, would have almost certainly seen him annex the G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile earlier in the programme. Notably, he kept going and kept fighting before his distance limitations wore him down. History, and amazing drone footage on CBS’s race coverage, captured Flightline racing on as well, albeit even faster.
At the close of a fascinating career the gorgeous son of Into Mischief amassed more than USD4.5 million in prize money, won nine of 12 starts (only two defeats on US soil) including four G1 wins. His prize money tally is the highest of any racehorse China Horse Club has raced, surpassing the famed undefeated U.S. Triple Crown winner Justify, the multiple champion Abel Tasman, European star Australia et al.
Trainer Todd Pletcher with Life Is Good at WinStar Farm (photo by Christie DeBernardis)
“Life Is Good retires to WinStar Farm as one of the most exciting stallion prospects Kentucky has seen in many years. The support he will receive from China Horse Club, WinStar Farm and some of the world’s best breeders will be of the highest order, certainly deserving of an individual who is blessed by natural gifts, good looks and unbelievable speed,” Harrington said.
“Life Is Good has played a key role in our international programme for several seasons now and we couldn’t be more excited about the role we believe he and his progeny will continue to play for many years to come.”
Life Is Good, who earlier this year sat atop the Longines IFHA World Racehorse Rankings at the sport’s premier performer, is already making WinStar Farm’s stallion row home. He stands alongside former China Horse Club and WinStar Farm stars in Improbable, Audible, Yoshida, Good Samaritan and Nashville.
If you would like to learn more about the China Horse Club exclusive membership offer, please email your inquiry to horses@chinahorseclub.com.