There was no wild celebration after the winning work put in by Life Is Good  in the $925,000 Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 6 at Saratoga Race Course.

At least not for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“I went home,” Pletcher said at his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track the morning after the two-length victory over stablemate Happy Saver . “I had no time. By the time we finished with the last race, it was almost bedtime.”

Life Is Good, owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm, added the prestigious Whitney to his already impressive racing resume. The son of Into Mischief  —Beach Walk  by Distorted Humor  has won eight of 10 career starts and is three-for-four this year. His bankroll sits at $4,086,700.

Life Is Good took the field gate-to-wire, completing the 1⅛-mile race for 3-year-olds and older in 1:48.97 on a track listed as good.

“He is a horse that has so much natural speed, such a high cruising speed, that he kind of puts his opponents in a dilemma,” Pletcher said. “You can’t go with him, and you can’t let him go either. It’s a challenging position for his opponents.”

The only drama came after the race. When jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was coming back to the winner’s circle, he stopped with Life Is Good for an interview outside of NBC’s set located on the clubhouse turn. When Life Is Good and Ortiz got back and the picture was taken in the winner’s circle, Pletcher himself helped put water on the horse before he left for the test barn. There was speculation that Life Is Good may have tied up on the hot, humid day. Pletcher said that was not so.

“That is incorrect,” he said. “He was hot when he got back to the winner’s circle and I wanted to get him out of there as quickly as possible because I did not want him to overheat. He did not tie up. Irad was probably a little excessive (with NBC). I think Irad could have made a quick comment or two and moved on.”

Pletcher had a brief discussion with Elliott Walden, the president/CEO/racing manager for WinStar Farm following the race and the plan moving forward is the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in November. There will be for one prep race for Life Is Good. As the Whitney is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge ”Win and You’re In” race to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Life Is Good has earned free entry into that 1 1/4-mile test.

Of Life Is Good’s 10 starts, nine have come in graded stakes races—five in grade Is.

“When you are fortunate enough to train a horse like this, you want everything to go right and allow the horse to show his level of ability,” Pletcher said. “It’s a terrific feeling. I am very happy for Life Is Good; a deserving Whitney winner.”

font : Bloodhorse.com