This is the first installment in what will be an ongoing series, presented by Hagyard, in which we catch up with the connections behind TDN Rising Stars. We'll go beyond the flashy performances to uncover the decisions that helped shape these future stars. When Life Changing (Life Is Good) was preparing for her debut on Aug. 1 at Saratoga, breeder Audie Otto had high expectations for the filly, who was bought by Mike Repole for $1.025 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Not only was she out of Smart Shopping (Smart Strike), making her a half-sister to Seize the Grey (Arrogate), who won the GI Preakness Stakes and GI Pennsylvania Derby for D. Wayne Lukas, but Otto was hearing nothing but good things about the filly by the WinStar stallion. Still, she never expected what happened that day: a very impressive seven-length win (video) that earned Life Changing 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' honors.“I sat and watched Life Changing's race and I was speechless and I'm not speechless too often,” Otto said. “I secretly had high hopes for her, but I had not shared them with anybody. I was waiting for her to run. It's kind of a dream.”Life Changing was the fourth Rising Star for Life Is Good–himself a 'TDN Rising Star'–making him the fastest first-crop sire ever to hit that mark.“You never want to get too far ahead of yourself in this business, but we have been thrilled with the start that Life Is Good has had,” said WinStar Farm's director of bloodstock Liam O'Rourke. “We're thrilled for all the connections and everyone who has experienced success with Life Is Good alongside of us. To be a TDN Rising Star is a significant achievement. The track record of what TDN Rising Stars go on to accomplish in their careers speaks for itself. We couldn't be more excited with his early success. It's truly encouraging for everyone at the farm and all our great partners who bred to him.”O'Rourke believes the early success Life Is Good has had is just the beginning of the story.Life Changing at last year's Saratoga Sale | Fasig-Tipton photo“We track the progeny of all our stallions and try to have our finger on the pulse as far as where these horses are at and get a picture of what's working and what's not working,” he said. “At every stage, our observations and the reports that we have received have been very high level all the way along. We're thrilled and honored by the start he has had but we feel like we are just scratching the surface. We feel that as the waters get deeper these horses will remain very competitive.”Otto said that Life Changing didn't necessarily stand out out as a foal or a yearling.“She was as sweet as could be and she was proper,” she said. “In my mind, she wasn't one of the foals we thought we'd talk about being really precocious or a leader in the paddock. She just kind of was.”When choosing who to breed Smart Shopping to this time around, Otto relied on Headley Bell, who gave her a short list of sires he thought would be a good fit for the mare.“Every mating season, he will give me a list of his top three or four stallions and I kind of cull through them on my own,” Otto said. “He felt that everybody was going to Flightline and he thought Life Is Good would be just as good a sire. But Flightline took all the shine. From the ones he gave me, I chose Life Is Good.”Once Life Changing arrived at the Saratoga sales grounds, the Repole team was instantly interested in her. But it was not Repole or any of his advisors who necessarily fell in love with Life Changing. It was his daughter Gioia.“I was at her stall when they came back and looked at her again,” Otto said. “Gioia, Mike's daughter, was there, and Gioia was the one who fell in love with her. She had a big hand in Mike spending what he spent.”Otto was expecting the filly to sell for somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000. When the bidding went beyond that she couldn't contain her excitement.“I grabbed Headley's hand and held on,” she said. “That's actually the first yearling I ever sold for over $1 million. That was really exciting.”Smart Shopping was bred back to Life Is Good, but she was barren that year. She has since been covered by Oscar Performance and 'TDN Rising Star Sierra Leone.Trainer Todd Pletcher has said that the GI Spinaway Stakes on Sept. 5 at Saratoga will likely be the next start for Life Changing.Life Is Good will be represented by eight second-crop yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale Aug. 10 and 11 and by a single New York-bred offering during that auction Aug. 16 and 17.The post A Look At Life Changing, The Latest ‘Rising Star’ For White-Hot Sire Life Is Good appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.