By Jill Williams
Siena Farm and WinStar Farm are going to have to make room in their trophy cases. Less than 24 hours after the partnership captured the King's Plate with Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach), they added more hardware when Mullikin (c, 4, Violence–Tulira's Star, by Congrats), stamped as the horse to beat in Saratoga's GI Forego Stakes, proved much the best. In winning his fourth straight and capturing the first Grade I of his career, Mullikin cemented his status as the best older sprinter east of the Mississippi with a comprehensive, front-running victory. Two-back GI Churchill Downs Stakes winner Gun Pilot (Gun Runner) and Angkor (Anchor Down), second last out in the Kelly's Landing Stakes, chased him home in second and third, respectively.
At the break, second-choice Cagliostro (Upstart) stumbled badly from his outside post. While Jose Ortiz managed to keep his seat, the pair immediately found themselves conceding several lengths and lost all chance of meaningfully impacting the running. Meanwhile, Mullikin broke cleanly and went straight to the front. Despite pressure to his outside from Angkor, he never wavered, showing the way with a :22.46 first quarter and :44.88 half. The dark bay shook off Angkor on the turn, opened up at the top of the stretch, and left no doubt as to his class, sailing home to a powerhouse 5 3/4-length victory under Flavien Prat, who would also win the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes with Domestic Product (Practical Joke) one race later on the card.
“He jumped so well there was no overthinking, the way he broke,” said Prat. “He just took the lead and was traveling very well all the way around and kept going on.
“I thought last time was good, but today was something else. He's got a great attitude, and he seems like he's enjoying himself. He's going in the right direction.”
The Forego was the first Grade I win of trainer Rodolphe Brisset's career. A former assistant to Hall of Famer Bill Mott, he went out on his own in 2017.
“Obviously, if I let go, I am going to cry,” said Brisset. “I have another one–only half the job done. I need to refocus, and we've got to go back there and put the saddle on the next one and try and win two.”
The Brisset-trained 'TDN Rising Star' World Record (Gun Runner), winner of the GII Amsterdam Stakes July 26, finished off the board in the Jerkens.
A $500,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September sale, Mullikin is unbeaten in 2024 and has now won four in a row, including the July 6 GII John A. Nerud Stakes in his first graded try. His 102 Beyer Speed Figure that day came on the heels of a pair of 98 Beyers earned at Keeneland and Churchill after shelved for nearly nine months following an abbreviated 3-year-old campaign. Mullikin signaled his sharpness for the Forego with a bullet four furlongs at Keeneland in :47 1/5 (1/46) Aug. 17.
Pedigree Notes:
Hill 'n' Dale's Violence, no stranger to the top ranks, got the seventh Grade I/Group 1 winner of his career with Mullikin, who is also one of 30 stakes winners out of a daughter of WinStar's pensioned Congrats. Violence shuttled to Argentina early in his career and has 19 graded winners from his 51 black-type winners worldwide, including 2022 U.S. champion 2-year-old colt and young stallion Forte.
Tulira's Star, third in the GIII Schuylerville Stakes in 2014, was bred to Forte for 2025. Fred Hertrich lll, who bred Mullikin with John Fielding, purchased the mare for $145,000 at Keeneland November in 2016. Tulira's Star's 2-year-old filly by McKinzie, who has never been through a public auction, is working at Fair Hill and covered three furlongs in :36 on Thursday. The mare's yearling colt by Maxfield sold earlier this month at the Fasig-Tipton Select Saratoga sale for $300,000 to Hillwood Stables and she produced a colt by Liam's Map Mar. 25. Mullikin is the first GISW on his dam side since his great-granddam had an unraced daughter who produced 1993 GI Wood Memorial Invitational Stakes winner Storm Tower (Irish Tower). The family traces directly back to Lady Minting (GB), imported to the U.S. in 1903 by James R. Keene's Castleton Farm and who has a number of stakes performers among her descendants.
First Grade 1 win for MULLIKIN, son of @HillnDaleFarm stallion Violence! He wins the Grade 1 Forego Stakes under Flavien Prat for trainer @BrissetRodolphe. pic.twitter.com/ic5Nywavoq
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 24, 2024
Saturday, Saratoga
FOREGO S.-GI, $500,000, Saratoga, 8-24, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:21.75, ft.
1–MULLIKIN, 122, c, 4, by Violence
1st Dam: Tulira's Star (GSP), by Congrats
2nd Dam: Tulira, by General Assembly
3rd Dam: Unconscious Doll, by Unconscious
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($500,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Siena Farm
LLC and WinStar Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich lll & John D.
Fielding (KY); T-Rodolphe Brisset; J-Flavien Prat. $275,000.
Lifetime Record: 9-5-3-0, $673,612. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gun Pilot, 124, c, 4, Gun Runner–Bush Pilot, by Smart Strike.
O/B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$100,000.
3–Angkor, 118, g, 6, Anchor Down–Afleet Lover, by Northern
Afleet. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($250,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Wynnstay
LLC & H. Allen Poindexter (KY); T-Philip A. Bauer. $60,000.
Margins: 5 3/4, 2HF, 3/4. Odds: 1.65, 4.10, 8.30.
Also Ran: Cagliostro, Full Screen, Baby Yoda, Twisted Ride. Scratched: Run Classic.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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