Into Mischief

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, which opened Monday with figures on pace for a third year of records, concluded Tuesday with an electric session which demolished the sale's previous high for gross, average, and median. At the close of business Tuesday, 154 yearlings sold for $82,160,000--highest ever in the auction's 103-year history, surpassing the previous record of $75,055,000 set last year. The average of $533,506 also improved on the 2023 record figure of $487,370, while the median of $425,000 bettered the...

Robert Clay signed the winning ticket on hip 201 Tuesday evening at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, going to $1 million for a colt by perennial leading sire Into Mischief. Consigned by Indian Creek, agent, the April-foaled bay colt is out of the unraced Validest (Medaglia d'Oro), a half-sister to the multiple graded-winning Global View (Galileo {Ire}). This is also the family of MGSW A. P. Warrior (A.P. Indy). Breeder Hubert Vester acquired Validest for $350,000 in foal to Authentic at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale.

An Into Mischief colt from the immediate family of champion and Breeders' Cup winner Perfect Sting (Red Ransom) became Tuesday's new leader at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale when selling for $2.4 million to Speedway Stable. Consigned by Lane's End, agent for Pamela Wygod and the Wygod Family Revocable Trust, Hip 183 was bred in Kentucky by Wygod and her late husband, Martin Wygod. The couple bought the colt's dam, stakes-placed Sweet Sting (Awesome Again), for $310,000 in 2020 at Keeneland November. The mare is out of the aforementioned Perfect Sting,...

The 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale released its catalog Tuesday with 4,396 horses set to go through the ring over 12 sessions. The sale will be held Monday, Sept. 9 through Saturday, Sept. 21 in Lexington, KY. "This time of year energizes Keeneland and our entire industry as we prepare to showcase an outstanding collection of quality yearlings and welcome many domestic and international horsemen and horsewomen to Lexington to participate in a vibrant marketplace unlike anything in the world," said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. "Having achieved some...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, a record-setter during its last two renewals, opened with a power-packed start-to-finish session Monday evening in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. "We won the first half," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "It was a really strong start to the opening session of the 2024 Saratoga yearling sale. We averaged over $500,000 tonight and the median was $400,000. Our RNA rate at an elite sale at 20% is pretty remarkable. We always aim for zero, but...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for Sunday running at Niigata Racecourse: Sunday, August 4, 2024 2nd-NII, ¥13,720,000 ($92k), Newcomers, 2yo, f, 1600mT T O NILSSON (JPN) (f, 2, McKinzie--American Legend, by American Pharoah) was purchased by Tomoya Ozasa for the equivalent of $84,390 at last year's JRHA Select Sale and...

6th-SAR, 100K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 2:47 p.m. The second-costliest hip out of OBS March this year, FEROCIOUS (Flatter) worked in :9.4 and sold on a final bid of $1,300,000 to Marquee Bloodstock with the partnership of JR Ranch, Restrepo, Ramiro, High Step Racing and OGMA Investments now listed as owners. A son of the late Claiborne stallion Flatter, Ferocious is the second foal out of a winning Midnight Lute mare who is a half to GISW Obligatory (Curlin). This is also the family of French G1 winner Etoile Montante (Miswaki)...

Millionaire Fulsome (Into Mischief-Flourish, by Distorted Humor) will shuttle to Chile in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock and J.P. Sullivan of Sullivan Bloodstock. He will stand the Southern Hemisphere season at Haras Matriarca. The Juddmonte owned and bred colt broke his maiden in his sophomore debut before following up with wins the Oaklawn Stakes, GIII Matt Winn Stakes. Rounding out his campaign with a score in GIII Smarty Jones, he subsequently finished fourth in the GI Pennsylvania Derby. At four, annexed a trio of stakes, including...

SARATIOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Give an assist to trainer John Kimmel for fellow conditioner Chad Brown's latest 2-year-old win at Saratoga Race Course. Come again? Well, after the seventh race at the Spa was complete Saturday afternoon and Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) was getting his picture taken, it was rival trainers Kimmel and Brown who were huddled together. They shared some laughs and a handshake. While Brown got Chancer McPatrick ready for his debut, a 6 1/2-furlong $100,000 maiden special weight, it was Kimmel who got the horse to Brown's barn. Chancer McPatrick...

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) will host an online 'Stallions for Second Chances Halter Auction' beginning Saturday, July 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET and concluding the evening of Saturday, Aug. 3. The halters of four stallions have been donated by their respective farms: Gun Runner (Three Chimneys); Into Mischief (Spendthrift); Tapit (Gainesway); and Uncle Mo (Coolmore America). Each halter is accompanied by a handcrafted shadowbox made by artisan Matt Martinez of Martinez Woodworks in Lexington, Ky. All proceeds will benefit The TRF Second Chances program, which gives incarcerated individuals the...

7th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, post time: 3:54 p.m. ET INVICTUS (Into Mischief), the first foal from 2019 GI Kentucky Oaks and 2020 GI Ballerina Stakes winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation), cost China Horse Club, Siena Farm and WinStar Farm $1.2 million at last year's Keeneland September Sale, and the Jan. 29 produce carries the WinStar colors for this first go. The bay, bred on similar cross to this sire's Grade I winners Life Is Good and Practical Joke, has been made the 3-1 choice on the morning line for...

It was announced during the telecast of the GI Haskell Stakes that Dornoch (Good Magic) will stand at stud at Spendthrift Farm. Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey addresses another big move by his team. TDN: What is it about Dornoch that makes him a good stallion candidate? NT: He's obviously got a great pedigree and he's a very talented horse. We always thought he was a really talented horse. They tried to rate him in the Blue Grass and he got wiped out from the one hole in the Derby....