Life Is Good, Medina Spirit have Baffert thinking Kentucky Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. - A certain Saturday at the start of May was foremost on Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s mind Sunday morning, a day after an attractive 1-2 finish by stablemates Life Is Good and Medina Spirit in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

“They’ve got four months to improve,” Baffert said.

While the colts have every chance to be better in the buildup to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1, they have already vaulted to the fore of California’s 3-year-old division after the $100,000 Sham Stakes. The one-mile race was the stakes debut and first start around two turns for both colts.

Life Is Good, owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm, ran a mile in 1:36.63 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101, compared to a figure of 91 when he won a maiden special weight race at 6 1/2 furlongs by 9 1/2 lengths in his debut at Del Mar on Nov. 22.

Medina Spirit, owned by Zedan Racing, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99 for his second-place finish in the Sham, a noticeable improvement from a figure of 76 when he won a maiden special weight race at 5 1/2 furlongs by three lengths in his debut at Los Alamitos on Dec. 11.

Life Is Good (1-5) led throughout, and held off 9-1 Medina Spirit, who was beaten three-quarters of a length after trailing by four lengths with a furlong remaining. Medina Spirit finished 13 lengths clear of Parnelli, the winner of a maiden special weight race at a mile at Del Mar on Nov. 28.

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On Sunday, Baffert did not have any immediate race plans for Life Is Good, a $525,000 yearling purchase, or Medina Spirit, who was bought for a mere $35,000 at a 2-year-olds in-training sale in Kentucky last July.

Baffert typically has runners in the major stakes of the late winter and early spring at Oaklawn Park and Santa Anita and is likely to do so again in coming months.

The Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 10 at Oaklawn Park are both worth $1 million. At Santa Anita, the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, a $300,000 race at 1 1/16 miles on March 6, and the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, a $750,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on April 3, are the track’s leading Triple Crown preps.

“They both came back looking good,” Baffert said of Life Is Good and Medina Spirit. “We need to let them mature and keep them healthy.

“They both handled two turns.”

Much of the focus following the Sham will be on Life Is Good, a colt by Into Mischief. Into Mischief also was sire of Authentic, winner of the 2020 Kentucky Derby in September for Baffert. That race was postponed from May last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Authentic won the 2020 Sham in his stakes debut by 7 3/4 lengths, leading throughout. Authentic later won such races as the Haskell Invitational at 1 1/8 miles at Monmouth Park in July and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Keeneland in November.

The similarities between the start of Authentic’s career and Life Is Good's was on Baffert’s mind Sunday.

“We’ve got to slow him down,” Baffert said of Life Is Good. “When they go two turns, you can slow them down. Authentic was the same way. The Into Mischiefs are very aggressive.”

The Baffert team of 3-year-olds has its typical depth this year.

Sunday morning, Triple Tap, an unraced Tapit colt who is a half-brother to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, worked three furlongs in 36.60 seconds at Santa Anita. Triple Tap will not start in the short-term future, but has had a steady series of workouts since late November.