Coming off a six-month layoff, 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shred the Gnar (Into Mischief) showed no signs of fatigue Saturday, wiring the field in the GIII Chilukki to take her first graded stakes race.
Beaten just a neck as the favorite on debut in Florida at Gulfstream Park for trainer Brian Lynch, the lightly-raced daughter of leading sire Into Mischief then rocketed into 'Rising Star'-dom in her second start going one mile in a 6 1/2-length romp while still in the Sunshine State March 16. Brought into prime time on Kentucky Oaks Day, Shred the Gnar didn't disappoint, again refusing to yield the lead under the Twin Spires to win a 1/16-mile optional claiming race by seven lengths May 2.
Unraced since that last trip to Kentucky, Saturday's 5-2 second choice quickly shook off any rust as she set the tempo from the inside with immediate early pressure from race favorite One Magic Philly (Good Magic) who stayed glued to her flank up the backstretch. That speedy pair opened up several lengths back to the second flight where a three-wide bid led by fellow 'Rising Star' Ragtime (Union Rags) began to eat into the gap as the opening half went by in :45.48.
One Magic Philly kept trying on the outside but never got any closer than her rivals saddle cloth as Shred the Gnar hugged the rail into the final quarter mile and kept driving to the line, holding off both the favorite and a closing Ragtime in her third straight gate-to-wire win and her first graded stakes success.
“She's loaded with talent,” Lynch said. “It means a whole lot more coming back off the layoff like that. I think she could go longer if she needed to and the future is very bright for her.”
“She's a pretty special filly,” added winning jockey Luis Saez, who has ridden her in each of her four career starts. “When I rode her first time out I could tell she had a ton of talent. She came back so professional off the layoff. Today she proved she's a Grade I type of filly.”
Pedigree Note:
Shred the Gnar is the 91st graded stakes winner for perennial leading sire Into Mischief who was recently announced at $250,000 for his 2026 covering season at Spendthrift Farm. She is also another feather in the cap for broodmare sire Bernardini who has now sired the dams of 129 stakes winners. Aspen Light, picked up by Eaton Sales at KEENOV in foal to Quality Road in 2020 for $360,000, has 10 foals of which nine have found the winner's circle led by Shred the Gnar's full-brother Owendale who earned north of $1,500,000 in his own racing career before passing from colic in 2021.
Aspen Light is herself a daughter of SW/GSP Zenith, a mare who sold with Aspen Light in utero for $750,000 to Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings at KEENOV in 2007. The mare's half-brother is GI Lane's End Breeders' Futurity winner Great Hunter (Apititude). Another of her half-sisters, Mira Alta, is responsible for GSW Promise Keeper (Consitution), SW/GSP Wicked Awesome (Awesome Again) and GSP War Stopper (Declaration of War). This is also the family of Eclipse-winning 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind (Curlin). Shred the Gnar is bred on the same cross as this year's GI Kentucky Deby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty.
Shred the Gnar has a pair of younger half-siblings who have seen success in the sales ring with her yearling Uncle Mo half-sister a $250,000 weanling turned $650,000 yearling for Repole Stable at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale earlier this year and her weanling Practical Joke half-sister a $425,000 Wesley Ward purchase at Keeneland just last week. Aspen Light was bred back to Practical Joke for 2026.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
CHILUKKI S. PRESENTED BY RESOLUTE RACING-GIII, $300,000, Churchill Downs, 11-15, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:34.84, ft.
1–SHRED THE GNAR, 118, f, 3, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Aspen Light, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Zenith, by Roy
3rd Dam: Sequins, by Northern Fashion
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($610,000 Ylg '23 FTSAUG). 'TDN Rising Star, presented Hagyard'. O-Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing LLC; B-Camas Park Stud & Lynch Bages LTD. (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch; J-Luis Saez. $183,450. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $312,410. *Full to Owendale, MGSW & MGISP, $1,538,435. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–One Magic Philly, 121, f, 4, Good Magic–My Philly Girl, by Empire Maker. O/B-John Gallegos (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $59,500.
3–Ragtime, 118, f, 3, Union Rags–Burmilla, by Storm Cat. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott. $29,750.
Margins: 2 3/4, 1, 5. Odds: 2.60, 1.94, 1.36.
Also Ran: Impel, Zadorsky, Literate. Scratched: Runaway Diva.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Shred the Gnar wins the G3 Chilukki off a 6-month layoff! 🌟@blynchracing trains and @luissaezpty was aboard.
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/pV0BVAJmY5
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) November 15, 2025
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