Possible Kentucky Derby favorite Life Is Good off Triple Crown trail
Update: Life Is Good will have surgery for a clip in his left hind ankle on Friday at Rood and Riddle.
Life Is Good, expected be one of the favorites — if not the favorite — for the Kentucky Derby, will reportedly miss the race.
WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden told Horse Racing Nation that the undefeated winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes and the Grade 2 San Felipe is off the Triple Crown trail after suffering an injury.
“He’s out for a few months,” Walden said in a text message. “Going to see Dr. (Larry) Bramlage this week.”
Earlier Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert told XBTV the son of Into Mischief would be sent for tests and would miss the Santa Anita Derby. He told the Daily Racing Form that the colt suffered a hind-end injury during his workout on Saturday morning at Santa Anita Park.
“Every day when I wake up and go to work, there’s always that thought in my mind,’ Baffert told Art Wilson of the Southern California News Group. “But you know what, he’ll be fine. It’s just the timing is bad. It’s disappointing, but he’s going to be fine.”
[Kentucky Derby leaderboard, prep results and schedule]
Purchased for $525,000 at the Keeneland September Sale in 2019 by the China Horse Club and Maverick Racing, Life Is Good won his debut on Nov. 22, 2020, at Del Mar. He beat Medina Spirit by three-quarters of a length in the Sham Stakes on Jan. 2. On March 6, he beat Medina Spirit by an impressive eight lengths in the San Felipe.
Life Is Good was listed at 4-1 in the latest Kentucky Derby future book odds, behind only Essential Quality at 7-2.
Baffert also trains Concert Tour, who won the Rebel Stakes last week at Oaklawn and is on scheduled to run in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 5:33 PM.
