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Into Mischief’s Largent High-Steps It in Fort Lauderdale Upset

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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Local Route to Pegasus Goes Through Fort Lauderdale

Trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle a pair of runners in Saturday’s GII Fort Lauderdale S. at Gulfstream Park, the local prep for the Jan. 23 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Harrell Ventures’ Halladay (War Front), winner of the Aug. 22 GI Fourstardave H. set the pace before fading to sixth in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile last time out. The 4-year-old is three-for-three over the Gulfstream lawn where he won the Tropical Park Derby last December and this year’s Sunshine Forever S. Stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) has won three of four starts over the Hallandale turf course and will be stepping up to the graded stakes ranks after a pair of 2020 stakes wins. He captured the July 29 Edward P Evans S. at Colonial Downs and the Oct. 9 Bert Allen S. at Laurel.

“This is going to be a tough race. This is a prep with some real teeth to it,” Pletcher said. “I think if either one of them were able to perform well in here it would certainly tell us that they belong in the Pegasus.”

Halladay will be making his first start beyond 1 1/16 miles in the nine-furlong Fort Lauderdale as connections look ahead to the 1 3/16-miles Pegasus next month.

“We’re interested in trying to stretch him out. We know that he’s fond of the Gulfstream course so we felt like this was sort of a good opportunity to see how he would handle a little more distance,” Pletcher said. “If this were to go really well it would put the Pegasus Turf in play, so that’s what we’re trying to find out.”

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables’ Largent will also be looking to stretch out beyond 1 1/16 miles fo the first time in the Fort Lauderdale.

“He’s super consistent, always shows up and runs well. He, too, has always liked Gulfstream. He’s definitely one that is capable on the day,” Pletcher said of Largent. “I think as he’s matured he’s settled a little better, as has Halladay, I think that gives them both the chance of handling the added distance.”

Trainer Mike Maker, who won last year’s Pegasus with Zulu Alpha (Street Cry {Ire}), also has two entered in the Fort Lauderdale. Three Diamonds Farm’s Tide of the Sea (English Channel), purchased for $80,000 at last year’s Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, will be making his stakes debut Saturday. The 4-year-old was a front-running winner of a 12-furlong allowance at Keeneland last time out Oct. 7. Skychai Racing and David Koenig’s Somelikeithotbrown (Big Brown), gate-to-wire winner of the July 26 GII Bernard Baruch H., is coming off a win over New York-bred foes in the Oct. 24 Mohawk S. at Belmont Park.

“We’re going to give both of them a shot,” Maker said. “It would be great to get back to the Pegasus.”

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Not This Time Filly Becomes Newest SW for Fast-Starting Freshman

Vacay dominated in her stakes debut Sunday to become her fast-starting freshman sire (by Giant’s Causeway)’s third black-type winner. A 1 3/4-length first up winner in the Belmont slop Oct. 16, she was backed down to favoritism and soon showed why. The dark bay broke with the pack from her outside five post and settled in second last while always off the fence. Scrubbed on to hold her position into the bend, she mounted a wide bid into a :45.89 half and bounded past rivals over the top en route to a convincing success.

“She’s a nice filly,” said winning rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. “She looks like she can go a little further. I was trying to hold her position and as soon as we were turning for home, I asked her, and she took off.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher added, “I thought it was a very professional performance on her part. She didn’t break great in her first start, but broke better today. She finished up the way you would want one to. She’s a quality filly and it looks like she’ll handle more distance as well.

“We always liked her quite a bit. She gives me the impression she’s going to improve even more when we stretch her out a little bit.”

Pletcher said Vacay would likely remain in New York for the winter: “That’s the most likely plan. I’ll talk it over with the connections but I would like to take advantage of the New York-bred status.”

The winner has a yearling full-brother. Her dam was bred to Khozan for 2021.

KEY CENTS S., $97,000, Aqueduct, 11-15, (S), 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.69, ft.
1–VACAY, 120, f, 2, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Florida Sun, by Belgravia
                2nd Dam: Wildcat Widow, by Forest Wildcat
                3rd Dam: Open Window, by Trempolino
($100,000 Ylg ’19 SARAUG). 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O-Repole
Stable & Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-J Stables LLC (NY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $55,000. Lifetime Record:
2-2-0-0, $83,600. *3rd black-type winner for sire (by Giant’s
Causeway).
2–Rossa Veloce, 120, f, 2, Girolamo–Spuntastic, by Hard Spun.
($12,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). O-Blue Streak Racing, LLC &
Raymond Handal; B-John Scott Rogers (NY); T-Raymond
Handal. $20,000.
3–Party At Page’s, 122, f, 2, Gemologist–Auntgrace, by Lion
Heart. ($10,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Gold Star Racing Stable,
Emcee Stable LLC & Brian McKenzie; B-T/C Stable, LLC (NY);
T-Jeremiah C. Englehart. $12,000.
Margins: 5HF, 1 3/4, HF. Odds: 1.55, 6.80, 3.25.
Also Ran: Chasing Cara, Shanes Pretty Lady.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Saturday Insights: $725 Union Rags Colt Debuts at the Big A

3rd-AQU, $80K, 2yo, 8.5fT, 12:50 p.m. ET
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, William Freeman and Michael Valdes’s AVIANO (Medaglia d’Oro) debuts for trainer Todd Pletcher, who recorded his 5,000th career victory last weekend and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2021. Out of graded stakes winner Bryan’s Jewel (Rockport Harbor), the April foal realized a $775,000 final bid from Eclipse at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling sale in Saratoga. Bryan’s Jewel, a daughter of $650,000 Fasig-Tipton buy Saphiria (Touch Gold)–trained by Pletcher–is also responsible for a Bodemeister filly ultimately named Empress Sophia, who brought $400,000 at KEESEP in 2017. Stuart Janney III’s Proven Innocent (Blame) kicks off his career for Shug McGaughey. The hombred is out of the prolific Janney mare Meghan’s Joy (A.P. Indy), dam of MGSW and MGISP Ironicus (Distorted Humor), GSW Hunting (Coronado’s Quest), MGSW On Leave (War Front), in addition to graded winners Quiet Harbor (Silver Deputy) and Norumbega (Tiznow). This is the extended family of MGSW Wild Applause (Northern Dancer), dam of Grade I scorer Eastern Echo (Damascus) and graded winners Yell (A.P. Indy), Roar (Forty Niner) and Blare of Trumpets (Fit to Fight). TJCIS PPs

5th-AQU, $80K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 1:45 p.m. ET
DYNAMIC ONE (Union Rags) gets his start for the partnership of Repole, Phipps and St. Elias Stables while under the guidance of Todd Pletcher. A $725,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, the colt was the third highest-priced colt by his sire in 2019. He hails from the family of undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign (Private Account) through her daughter MGISW My Flag (Easy Goer). The Phipps family-bred is a grandson of My Flag’s champion daughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat), a half-sister to Miner’s Mark (Mr. Prospector) and Traditionally (Mr. Prospector). TJCIS PPs

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