NEWS

Life Is Sweet returns to turf in San Gorgonio

Posted: Thursday, December 31, 2009 12:26 PM

LIFE IS SWEET

Benoit & Associates photo

by Pete Denk

Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) winner Life Is Sweet returns to the turf in the $150,000 San Gorgonio Handicap (G2), a race that also drew multiple Grade 1 winner Diamondrella (GB) on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

Those two will carry high weight of 122 pounds in the field of nine fillies and mares for the 1 1/8-mile turf race.

Life Is Sweet, who will make her five-year-old debut on Saturday, won four graded stakes from eight attempts in 2009. She finished third against open company in the Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (G1) and the winner in her other three defeats was her stable mate, undefeated champion older mare Zenyatta.

A Pam and Martin Wygod homebred trained by John Shirreffs, Life Is Sweet is a full sister to 2004 champion two-year-old filly Sweet Catomine. She has two wins and two seconds from five career turf starts, although she has not raced on grass since finishing second in Sands Point Stakes (G2) on May 31, 2008 at Belmont Park.

IEAH Stables’ Diamondrella was one of the top turf mares in North America in 2009 with wins in the First Lady Stakes (G1) at Keeneland Race Course and the Just A Game Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park.

Following her 11th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Diamondrella changed barns, going from trainer Angel Penna Jr. to Racing Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. In her first race for Stevens, Diamondrella finished third in the Matriarch Stakes (G1) at Hollywood Park on November 28.

Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times

San Gorgonio H.