When the Breeders' Cup added the Dirt Mile (G1) to its menu of stakes in 2007, there was a common one-word response.
Why?
With many of the venues that host the World Championships unable to offer a one-turn, eight-furlong race, the Dirt Mile seemed like a shorter, younger brother to the centerpiece 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
These days, if the Longines Classic is Peyton Manning, then the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile is probably Eli Manning with those two Super Bowl rings.
While the Dirt Mile will never match the glamour and importance of the Classic, in this era it has become a highly viable path to riches and success in the following year and served as a race to showcase horses with the potential to one day emerge as a top-flight stallion.
"Absolutely, the Dirt Mile is one of the best races on the Breeders' Cup card," said Elliott Walden, CEO, president, and racing manager for WinStar Farm. "It's also a very valuable race to help horses' stallion careers. It's a stallion-making race."
Going back to 2013, the Dirt Mile has indeed attracted a bevy of starters who have been become highly coveted sires. You can start with Goldencents , the 2013-14 winner, then came fields that included Liam's Map , Gun Runner , Runhappy , Practical Joke , Accelerate, City of Light , Omaha Beach , Improbable, War of Will , and Knicks Go .
"The Dirt Mile hasn't been around for a long time, but with just a small number of runnings it has produced some very good stallions," said seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, the sport's all-time leader in earnings. "Milers are traditionally great stallions who can pass along their speed in their genes."
As valuable as the Dirt Mile can be for a colt's future life at stud, these days it can also serve as a bridge to bigger and better things in the following year.
Back in 2007, the racing season for most older horses ended with the Classic and resumed in the spring. One or two of the better horses planning to stick around at the races for another year might have targeted the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1). But for the rest, when the horses crossed the finish line in the Classic, it meant those headed to stud would be retired with the rest given time off for a few months.
Yet now, with the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) in late January, the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) a month later, and the $12 million Dubai World Cup in late March, the Dirt Mile is a perfect stepping stone to the Pegasus or Saudi Cup, both of which are contested at 1 1/8 miles, especially for late developing horses or those who missed a large portion of the year due to an injury.
"In the old days, you culminated with the Breeders' Cup Classic and then worked backward from the next Classic," Walden said. "Now there's big opportunities in the winter and spring, and you see where you fit in. Sometimes, by running in the Dirt Mile, you can get your horse ready for one of the big races at the start of the year."
Already, the aforementioned group of Dirt Mile alums have produced three of the five Pegasus wins, courtesy of Gun Runner, City of Light, and Knicks Go.
There could be a fourth in 2022, provided the heavy favorite in the Nov. 6 edition at Del Mar lives up to his lofty expectations.
In WinStar Farm and China Horse Club's Life Is Good , the Dirt Mile has an odds-on favorite who seems quite capable of huge things in 2022.
This past winter, the son of Into Mischief was considered the top 3-year-old prospect in trainer Bob Baffert's barn. But after a smashing eight-length victory over stablemate Medina Spirit in the March 6 San Felipe Stakes (G2) that boosted his record to a perfect 3-for-3, he developed knee chips and was knocked off the Triple Crown trail.
While Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Life Is Good spent nearly six months away from the races until he was shifted to Pletcher's barn in New York and finished a game second to Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) favorite Jackie's Warrior in the Aug. 28 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1), a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course.
The Jerkens may have been Life Is Good's first and only loss, yet it also won over new fans for the 3-year-old through the way he was passed in the stretch by a more seasoned multiple grade 1 winner then dug down and battled back in the final furlong to lose by only a neck.
"Obviously we were hoping that we could win, but I think from a reputation standpoint, he didn't lose anything in defeat," Walden said. "So many people came up to me and told me what a great race he ran off the layoff. We were disappointed in losing, but not disappointed in the horse. He lost to a very good horse who was primed for the distance. We felt seven furlongs was the right distance to bring him back and he ran great. He went (:21.97) and (:44.16) on the front end and was digging in at the end."
After the Jerkens, the plan became running against older foes in the Kelso Handicap (G2), which he won by 5 1/2 lengths, followed by the Dirt Mile.
"When we ran him in the Jerkens, we had to decide whether to run him a mile and an eighth next and point to the Classic, or take an incremental step to the Dirt Mile," Walden said. "The decision to run in the Dirt Mile was actually made before we ran in the Kelso."
For Pletcher, that path made perfect sense. By not forcing the issue and facing the best dirt horses in the world in the Classic, he is giving Life Is Good one more opportunity to strengthen his foundation before the $539,200 earner moves on to the rich grade/group 1 tests in 2022, provided all goes well Saturday.
"I think he'll stretch out farther than a mile," Pletcher said about the $525,000 purchase from the Paramount Sales consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "He's a horse who has classic ability. Unfortunately, because he had all that time off in the middle of the year, he's just a little bit behind schedule and would be giving up a lot of seasoning to some good horses (in the Classic). But everything he does in his training indicates that he will run that far."
Indeed what Pletcher and Walden have seen in the mornings since the Sept. 25 Kelso have only added credence to their belief that the patient route was surely the best one for the colt bred by Gary and Mary West Stables out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk.
"He's an extremely talented horse and we're excited to see him run. I put him up there with the best horses I've been around, including (2018 Triple Crown winner) Justify ," Walden said. "I talked to Todd about him the other day, and Todd is not one to really boast about his own horses, and I asked how good is this horse and he said he's in the top 1/10th of 1%. He's elite. He's a true athlete. He moves effortlessly. You don't know how fast he is and he gallops out with great energy. We just hope he puts it all together on Breeders' Cup Day."
Of course, the year was not without drama aside from the injury that ended his Triple Crown chances.
After Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby, a pair of drug tests revealed a banned substance in the colt's system. Though the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has yet to make a final ruling as it awaits the result of a third test, Baffert was barred from racing at Churchill Downs and New York Racing Association tracks. Baffert went to federal court and had the NYRA suspension lifted July 14, but by then Walden had already decided to send Life Is Good to Pletcher so the colt could run in New York.
"You have to make decisions as they come up. We have the utmost respect for Bob Baffert. He's done a great job for us and we felt at the time when we made the decision there was a restriction on him in New York, and we wanted to come back in the Jerkens, so we did what we did," Walden said. "We're good friends today and Bob still roots for Life Is Good."
Baffert has a Dirt Mile starter of his own in 10-1 shot Eight Rings . He's already a grade 1 winner and, yes, he has a stallion deal in place with Coolmore's Ashford Stud.
He's a perfect fit for the Dirt Mile.
