'He has no limitations' - superstar Life Is Good powers back to winning ways

Pegasus World Cup winner Life Is Good was back in winning form on Saturday with an emphatic performance in the Grade 2 John A Nerud Stakes at Belmont Park.

Returning to the races for the first time since his defeat in the Dubai World Cup in March, Life Is Good pulled away to win by five lengths.

The four-year-old, owned by WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, will be aimed at defending the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland in November before again tackling the Pegasus World Cup in January.

"He's just an incredible horse," WinStar chief executive Elliott Walden said. "We're excited to see what happens the rest of the year. It's nice to see.

"They couldn't pull him up [after the race]. It doesn't look like he has limitations. We'll see as we get into the year, but we're looking forward to getting him back around two turns."

The son of Into Mischief, bred by Gary and Mary West and trained by Todd Pletcher, will be tested next in the $1 million (£826,000) Whitney Stakes at Saratoga in August.

Pletcher said: "There's a sense of relief when they're finished. These races are not the ones you are jumping up and down and hollering about and waving your programme.

"We got a little something out of it. Now we get five weeks for the Whitney and we'll see if we can take another step forward. We're blessed to have him."

With just a field of four, there was not much suspense surrounding the Nerud. The race was, on paper, a match between multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Good and the Carter Handicap winner Speaker's Corner.

Once 1-5 favourite Life Is Good and jockey Flavien Prat quickly grabbed the lead from the rail, little changed as Speaker's Corner pushed Life Is Good before dropping back after a half-mile.

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