Into Mischief

It very quickly became clear that the stallions launched in 2019 included an above-average proportion equipped to last the course. And the start being made by their second crop of sophomores has only reiterated that impression. Thanks to the contentious prohibition of his ban by a gaming corporation, GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth is ineligible to give Good Magic a second GI Kentucky Derby from two attempts. (Though the Hill 'n' Dale sire might yet manage that with the same mare who gave him the first one, with Mage's brother...

'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief), fourth as the favorite in last Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby, will not be pointed to the GI Kentucky Derby, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. The GI Champagne S. winner and GII Rebel S. winner is currently ranked fifth with 81 points for the Kentucky Derby. "Based on the performance over the weekend, we are not going to run in the Kentucky Derby," trainer Brad Cox told DRF. "We are thinking about cutting him back in distance." Cox added, "He came out...

In a field of 10, 'TDN Rising Stars' GISW Muth (Good Magic) and GISW Timberlake (Into Mischief) have drawn the seven and two gate spots, respectively, and lead the charge in Oaklawn's feature GI Kentucky Derby prep race, the GI Arkansas Derby. Muth, 8-5 on the morning line, will attempt to give Bob Baffert his fifth win in the contest, but hasn't started since finding the winner's enclosure in the GII San Vicente S. Jan. 6 at Santa Anita. The colt is ineligible for the Derby points and to run...

Quite a few horses have lately nourished the illusion that we might, collectively, actually know what we're doing. Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), for instance, is threatening to make sense of the second-highest price paid for an American yearling in 2022; while Newgate (Into Mischief) is steadily working off a $850,000 debt of his own, while similarly bringing closer the real payday at stud. But last weekend we were given yet another reminder of the genetic powder-keg lit by a mating strategy that can only have prompted a supercilious smile in...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale opened Tuesday with a solid session, and while the 2-year-old sales are usually all about speed, the day was topped by a colt by Tapit who galloped during last week's under-tack show. From the Lothenbach dispersal, the youngster sold for $1.2 million to the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds and D. J. Stables. He was consigned by Tom McCrocklin. "I think it points to the fact that the under-tack show is one metric," said...

For a stallion farm, it's the equivalent of the "difficult second album" so notorious in the music industry. You've launched a new sire, and profited from the customary stampede of commercial mares. But the vogue proves to be cruelly fleeting. When he returns to the covering shed, the following spring, he offers exactly the same performance history, chromosomes and conformation as before. But suddenly the phone is cold. Precisely the factors that drove his debut book--novelty, plus security from imminent exposure of his competence (or otherwise) to replicate ability--have meanwhile...

6th-OP, $115k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1m, 4:18p.m. ET Half-sister to last year's GIII Withers S. winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), FLASHY DANCER (Curlin) will be unveiled here for Gary and Mary West. Out of two-time Graded winner Actress (Tapit), who has also produced the winning Hot Rumor (Medaglia d'Oro), the second dam is Canadian champion Milwaukee Appeal (Milwaukee Brew). Riding a healthy work tab and picking up the services of Manny Franco, the morning line has Flashy Dancer tabbed at 8-5 odds. TJCIS PPs 4th-SA, $65k, Msw, 3yo, 6...

The racing year is only just doing up its laces, but already Into Mischief is on the march. Last week we examined the GI Kentucky Derby candidature of his son Timberlake and now, with a little help from the evergreen Dettori, he has a 19th Grade I scorer in Newgate. I must admit that my heart went out to connections of Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify), who led every step bar the last, and would have been John Sadler's fourth winner of the storied Santa Anita Handicap-still dearly cherished by some of...

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Hanzly Albina of Newtownanner Stud. "I don't take this lightly at all," said Albina, who is both general manager of Newtownanner's Kentucky farm and North American bloodstock manager of the operation. "It's a ton of fun when it works out. For me, the physical is what I'm shooting for as I can't predict performance. We want to produce what we would buy in a sales ring, want to produce as nice a horse as...

The stormy forecast that delayed the Big 'Cap card originally scheduled for Saturday at Santa Anita and the scratching of his sophomore sensation Nysos (Nyquist) did little to dampen Bob Baffert's day as Newgate (Into Mischief)'s last-jump victory in the GI Santa Anita H. gave the trainer three graded wins--plus, the exacta in the GII San Felipe S.--in Arcadia Sunday. The stallion-making partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, et al, co-owners of Newgate, doubled up on graded scores with Imagination (Into Mischief)'s win in...

The GII San Felipe S. last its headliner with the scratch of the Bob Baffert-trained Nysos (Nyquist), but Baffert still dominated the race with stablemates Imagination (Into Mischief) and Wine Me Up (Vino Rosso) running in tandem for much of the 1 1/16 miles and in lockstep down the stretch before Imagination just got his nose in front on the wire Sunday at Santa Anita. Of his one-two finish in the San Felipe, Baffert said, "We're trying to develop these horses, so it was good for both of them. Wine...

By now we're long familiar with the key transition that sealed the hegemony of Into Mischief. The moment of "Authentication" came in 2020, with a Horse of the Year from the first book of mares the Spendthrift phenomenon had covered even at $45,000; while the next crop, conceived at $75,000, produced a second consecutive GI Kentucky Derby winner in Mandaloun. While the latter was indebted to the disqualification of the winner, the fact remains that he managed to outstay the other 17 starters. In the process, he confirmed that Into...