Mandaloun

By Emma Berry and Kelsey Riley A line-up worthy of its new Group 1 status, the Saudi Cup has attracted runners from seven nations, with Classic winners from two continents likely to be the leading players in the field of 14. The major fly in the ointment for defending champion Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) appears to be his draw in stall 14, but he wasn't much closer to the rail last year when winning from gate 12. He has really impressed in mornings this week, appearing relaxed and looking...

This week, 296 days after the race was run, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission ruled on the case of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, officially disqualifying winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) and elevating Mandaloun (Into Mischief) into first place. Additionally, the KHRC suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and Baffert's legal team quickly promised appeals to an administrative law judge. Bob Heleringer, a lawyer, law professor and the author of "Equine Regulatory Law", joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--Defending champion Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) will jump from the outside stall in the 14-runner field for Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup. "Obviously it's not ideal," said the 5-year-old's co-trainer Thady Gosden after selecting barrier 14 for Prince Faisal's homebred. "But last year he was drawn in 12 before winning so hopefully on Saturday he'll jump well and get into a good place in the back stretch. It's a very competitive-looking renewal of the race. He comes here in good form and still shows plenty of enthusiasm."...

With so much background noise over the tragic Medina Spirit (Protonico), few have given due attention to another poignant context for the potential elevation of Mandaloun (Into Mischief) as official winner of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby. If the next name on the roll of honor happens to be Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute), however, then perhaps more of us will renew our gratitude to the late Prince Khalid Abdullah for a legacy well measured by the performance of both horses at Fair Grounds last Saturday. The founder of Juddmonte...

They engaged in as good a battle on the infield tote as they did on the track, but at the end of the 8 1/2 furlongs of Satuday's GIII Louisiana S. at the Fair Grounds, and in what looked to be a two-horse race proved exactly that, as 9-10 favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Mandaloun outbattled an alibi-free 6-5 second choice Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) to make a victorious return to the races. Midnight Bourbon, last seen finishing third as the favorite to Maxfield (Street Sense) in the GI Clark S....

Fastest two minutes in sport? You'll excuse us a bitter laugh here. By the time Mandaloun (Into Mischief) leaves the gate Saturday for the GIII Louisiana S., he'll be 382,968 minutes into a GI Kentucky Derby without end. And, with no sign of anyone putting their attorneys back in the holster, it's plainly going to be a while yet before we know whether Mandaloun will finally be anointed the 147th winner of a race that drives so many millions of dollars of investment in our industry. (Listen to this column...

Juddmonte's 'TDN Rising Star' Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Winchell Thoroughbreds' hard-knocking Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) face each other for the fifth time in their career, each using Saturday's GIII Louisiana S. at a possible steppingstone to the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup in Riyadh Feb. 26. Mandaloun makes his first start since a late-season injury derailed any hopes of making the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Winner of half of his six starts at three, the bay was upset by Midnight Bourbon in the GIII Lecomte S. on this program last year...

Mandaloun (Into Mischief) finished second in the GI Kentucky Derby and will be declared the winner if Medina Spirit (Protonico) is ever disqualified for a betamethasone positive. He didn't cross the wire first in the GI Haskell S. either, but was awarded the win after the stewards disqualified Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) for interference. It pays to be both lucky and good. But a page has been turned and Mandaloun will kick off his 4-year-old season Saturday at the Fair Grounds in the GIII Louisiana S., the first step in...

As both prototype and paragon for a whole new era in commercial breeding, Into Mischief can increasingly be measured only against himself. Last year, in retaining the general sires' championship he had won for the first time in 2019, the Spendthrift phenomenon became the first North American stallion to break the $20-million barrier in progeny earnings. He ended up on $22,507,940, bulldozing Tapit's 2016 haul of $19,914,317. Now, as an overlooked consequence of Breeders' Cup success for his latest star Life Is Good, Into Mischief has surged past his own...

Juddmonte Farms' leading 3-year-old Mandaloun (Into Mischief), most recently seen capturing the GI TVG.com Haskell S. via disqualification, has a sore foot and will likely miss the remainder of the season's major races, Juddmonte racing manager Garrett O'Rourke confirmed to TDN. The homebred will now target the 2022 Saudi Cup. "It's nothing serious, the horse just needs six weeks off, but unfortunately six weeks off at this time of year rules out some important races," O'Rourke said. The story was first reported by Daily Racing Form. O'Rourke added that the...

Trainer Doug O'Neill experienced the agony and ecstasy of racing early Saturday evening at Monmouth Park, all in the span of less than 10 minutes. First, his star 3-year-old Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) won a hard-fought stretch battle in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., which would have been the colt's first Grade I victory after a handful of near-misses. But quickly after the race, in which Hot Rod Charlie came in on Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and the latter soon stumbled and lost rider Paco Lopez, the red inquiry sign lit...

Trainer Doug O'Neill joins the TDN Writers' Room following the disqualification of his horse, Hot Rod Charlie, in the Haskell Stakes to give his take on both the controversial race and the new whip ban at Monmouth Park.