Sent off at odds of 16-1 as the lesser-fancied of a pair from trainer Todd Pletcher in Saturday's GII Ft. Lauderdale S., Largent (Into Mischief) settled in the latter half of the field and took advantage of a fast pace up ahead of him to cause the upset and likely earn a spot in the field for the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf next month.
Largent landed behind midfield as Halladay (War Front) set a searching pace in advance of the fleet-footed Factor This (The Factor) with the equally quick Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown) outfooted in third. Racing inside down the backstretch, Largent was full of run, but was patiently handled into the final three furlongs by Paco Lopez. Sensing a chance to get away from the fence when push came to shove, Largent was produced four or five wide into the lane and finished fastest of all for the victory.
Doswell (Giant's Causeway) tagged Breaking the Rules (War Front) for second.
Largent, a two-time stakes winner in Virginia-bred company earlier this year in Colonial's Edward P. Evans S. July 29 and Laurel's Bert Allen S. (non black-type) last time Oct. 9, became the 35th graded winner for his all-conquering sire with the victory Saturday. He sandwiched a runner-up finish in Saratoga's Lure S. Sept. 7 between those two aforementioned victories. Largent is now four-for-five over the Gulfstream lawn.
“One thing is, he's always loved Gulfstream,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He's always run very well here and we just felt like it was the right time to step up. He'd been training great and it was the right time to see if he could step up into a big spot.”
Pletcher continued, “He's a horse that has shown some talent. This was definitely his toughest task to date but he showed that he likes it here and delivered a big performance. I think he certainly ran well enough today to earn a spot into the Pegasus, which we'd love to do.”
Pedigree Notes:
Another weekend, another stakes winner for Into Mischief. North America's leading sire has 83 career black-type winners from nine crops, but the truly remarkable statistic is 29 of his runners are stakes winners of 2020. Among his 34 lifetime graded winners are this year's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic, GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Gamine, and his newest graded winner, Largent. Largent is the last foal out of the late Life in Seattle, whose three stakes performers also included MSW & GSP Kona Blend (Dixieland Band) and MSP Edgewater (Lion Heart). Life in Seattle won half of her four career starts and was out of the $1.9-million KEENOV broodmare Life At the Top, a MGISW and graded stakes producer. Life At the Top's dam was a half-sister to Eclipse champion and GI Kentucky Derby winner Bold Forbes (Irish Castle). Largent is bred on the identical cross as Into Mischief's dual champion Covfefe, as both are out of Unbridled mares. Unbridled's 87 stakes winners out of his daughters also include Canadian champion Spring in the Air (Spring At Last), Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon), and GI Preakness winner Shackleford (Forestry). Unbridled's sire son, Unbridled's Song, accounts for the dams of three more of Into Mischief's black-type winners. An additional two of Into Mischief's stakes winners are by another Unbridled son, Empire Maker.
Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORT LAUDERDALE S.-GII, $200,000, Gulfstream, 12-12, 3yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:46.16, gd.
1–LARGENT, 120, g, 4, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Life in Seattle, by Unbridled
2nd Dam: Life At the Top, by Seattle Slew
3rd Dam: See You At the Top, by Riva Ridge
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($460,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Twin Creeks Racing Stables LLC & Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Lazy Lane Farms LLC (VA); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-Paco Lopez. $117,800. Lifetime Record: 9-6-3-0, $314,470. *1/2 to Edgewater (Lion Heart), MSP, $250,142; and Kona Blend (Dixieland Band), MSW & GSP, $174,960. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Doswell, 120, g, 5, Giant's Causeway–Ballet Pacifica, by Minardi. O/B-Joseph Allen LLC (KY); T-Barclay Tagg. $38,000.
3–Breaking the Rules, 120, h, 5, War Front–Protesting, by A.P. Indy. O/B-Phipps Stable (KY); T-Claude R McGaughey III. $19,000.
Margins: 2, NO, 1HF. Odds: 16.90, 15.60, 10.80.
Also Ran: Spooky Channel, Channel Cat, Tide of the Sea, Halladay, Factor This, Somelikeithotbrown, Delaware (GB).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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