Life Is Good Juveniles Thriving Ahead of OBS April Sale

Consignors with juveniles by Life Is Good at the upcoming Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale got an important update April 8 at Keeneland when the stallion was represented by his first winner from his first starter. Eleven 2-year-olds by the WinStar Farm freshman sire and son of seven-time leading sire Into Mischief are still entered in the sale, with two being offered on opening day April 14. The first two to be offered include Hip 15, a colt consigned by De Meric Sales, and Hip 199, a colt in the Scanlon Training and Sales consignment. Hip 15 is out of Peggy May, an unraced daughter of Lemon Drop Kid and the dam of stakes winner Doc Boy (Into Mischief). Peggy May is out of champion grass mare and 2000 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) winner Perfect Sting, who equaled the then-Churchill Downs track record during the World Championships by going 1 3/8 miles in 2:13. The family has another important update in Santa Anita Derby (G1) runner-up Potente, who is out of stakes-placed winner Sweet Sting, a half sister to Peggy May. Prior to the Santa Anita Derby, Potente won the San Felipe Stakes (G2). The OBS April colt sweetened these updates by working :09 4/5 during the sale's under-tack show. "This colt is owned by Luis Gavignano and trained by Little Farm at Starting Point Training Center," said Tristan de Meric. "They have been high on this horse all year, and the couple of times I've gone to see him, he always worked well. We have had him for about two weeks at the sale, and he has been very straightforward with a great mind." Under the name Lugamo Racing Stables, Gavignano bought Hip 15 for $125,000 during the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of Greenfield Farms' consignment. Greenfield sold the colt for his breeder Sierra Farm. De Meric said he was not surprised the colt worked so brilliantly at OBS. "When you look at him, it makes sense that he is as fast as he is. He is well-proportioned with good balance and has a lot of quality. He has done his part for sure," he said. De Meric said he has five other Life Is Good 2-year-olds on the farm for clients that will race them and has great expectations for this year. "They were all bought for high prices and are with good connections, so I expect a bright future for Life Is Good," he said. "They are not all the same body type, but they are all training well." Hip 199 is a colt out of Spellbound, a grade 2 winner by Bernardini and the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Soothsay (Distorted Humor), who won the 2021 Santa Anita Oaks (G2). David Scanlon went to $260,000 to acquire the colt during the Keeneland September sale out of Claiborne Farm's consignment. "We really liked him as a yearling. He had a great frame and great walk and great pedigree," he said. "I love to buy from Claiborne, too, because they always raise them right, and they train up really well." Spellbound is a half sister to graded stakes winner Three Witches (Into Mischief), who also ran third in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1T), and multiple graded stakes winner Kid Cruz (Lemon Drop Kid), who won the 2014 Dwyer Stakes (G3) and ran third in the Jim Dandy Stakes G2). Hip 199 also dazzled during the OBS April sale under-tack show, working a furlong in :10. "He is a big, tall, leggy horse with a beautiful frame, but he needed to fill in," Scanlon said. "He is almost a May foal, so I knew he would take a little time, and we waited for the April sale. Thirty days before the sale you could really see him filling out, and he has finished off perfectly." Scanlon said he has about nine 2-year-olds by Life Is Good at the farm getting ready for the races, and they all love to train. "The one thing I love the most about the Life Is Goods is that they have that Into Mischief forwardness about them," he said. "When we are walking a set of 15-20 to the track, you can tell the Life Is Goods because they are walking like they have some place to be. They just train fantastically. I have really high expectations for them this year." Life Is Good, as a racehorse, won four grade 1 stakes and retired with $4,541,700 in career earnings. His first crop was bred on a $100,000 stud fee, and he stands this year for $60,000.