Shoplifted is a son of one of the breed's all-time leading sires, Into Mischief, who is on his way to topping the North American general sire list for the third consecutive year. A $525,000 yearling who sold for $800,000 as a 2-year-old, Shoplifted earned nearly $600,000 on the track while making six starts against Grade 1 competition for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Shoplifted hit the board in three of those Grade 1 races: he ran second in the Grade 1 Runhappy Hopeful Stakes in his second lifetime start and third in both in the G1 Woody Stephens Stakes and G1 H. Allen Jerkins Stakes. He also won the $400,000 Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park.

Shoplifted was retired from racing after finishing a close second to graded stakes winner Dennis' Moment at Keeneland in October. The 4-year-old is out of the winning Yes It's True mare Shopit. He will stand for a fee of $5,000.

Gold Double, a winning son of leading sire Medaglia d'Oro out of graded stakes winner Fiftyshadesofgold, has also been retired from racing to stand his first year at stud at Valor Farm. A homebred for Valor Farm's owner Douglas Scharbauer, Gold Double will stand for a fee of $1,000.

Gold Double hit the board in all five of his career starts, including a maiden win at Fair Grounds, and he brings a powerful pedigree to the Texas breeding program as the only known son of Medaglia d'Oro, one of the world's top stallions, standing in the state.

Gold Double is out of Texas-bred Fiftyshadesofgold, who earned $420,521 in nine starts with wins in the Debutante Stakes and G3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs and a runner-up finish in the G2 Fair Grounds Oaks.

Gold Double's pedigree mirrors the long and successful history of Valor Farm. Fiftyshadesofgold, the 2014 Texas Horse of the Year, is by Valor stallion My Golden Song, perennially one of the leading sires in the Lone Star State. The dam of Fiftyshadesofgold, Hadif Cat, is by Hadif, who helped put Valor Farm on the map as one of Texas' top sires of the 1990s and into the 2000s. The pedigree of Fiftyshadesofgold also includes Grade 2 winner Alysbelle, a full sister to the great Kentucky Derby winner, Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Alysheba, who was campaigned by Douglas' mother, Dorothy, and sister, Pamela, as part of the noted breeding and racing program with his father, Clarence.

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Bred by Machmer Hall, Craig and Carrie Brogden, Shoplifted was a $525,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $800,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream breezer and raced for Robert Clay's Grandview Equine, Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stable and the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Shoplifted won his maiden by 4 1/2 lengths at first asking at Saratoga in 2019 and was runner-up to stablemate Basin (Liam's Map) in the GI Hopeful S. before closing out the season with a victory in the Springboard Mile S.

Also placed in the GI Woody Stephens S. and GI H. Allen Jerkens S., Shoplifted hails from the female family of GISWs Miss Shop (Deputy Minister) and Power Broker (Pulpit), MGSW Imprimis (Broken Vow) and GSW & MGISP Trappe Shot (Tapit). Shoplifted will stand for $5,000.

Gold Double, bred and owned by Valor Farm's Douglas Scharbauer, is a son of Texas-bred Fiftyshadesofgold, who carried the famed Scharbauer silks to victory in the GIII Eight Belles S. Gold Double hit the board in all five starts, including a Fair Grounds maiden win. Fiftyshadesofgold, Texas's Horse of the Year for 2014, is a daughter of Valor stallion My Golden Song, a perennial leading sire in the Lone Star State. Gold Double's female family includes Alysbelle, a full-sister to Alysheba. He will stand for $1,000.

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Romping by seven lengths in last February's GIII Swale S., Mischevious Alex successfully stretched out to a mile when annexing the GIII Gotham S. here a month later, but was taken off the GI Kentucky Derby trail before running fourth in the GI Woody Stephens S. and sixth in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. Transferred from the John Servis barn to Saffie Joseph after that, he came back with a facile allowance/optional claiming success Jan. 10 at Gulfstream, a race that earned him a 103 Beyer and featured next-out wins from the second, fourth and sixth finishers. Back in graded company in the GIII Gulfstream Park Sprint S. Feb. 13, he notched a similarly easy score, and the bay has lit up the track in the mornings since, most notably drilling five furlongs in an eye-popping :58 2/5 (1/21) Mar. 14.

Multiple Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty) returns to his favorite racetrack in his 5-year-old debut. Hero of the GI Hopeful S. and H. Allen Jerkens at two and three, respectively, he started his 2020 campaign with scores in the local GIII Toboggan S. and GIII Tom Fool H., but failed to find the winner's circle in his next six tries, most recently running third in the GIII Mr. Prospector S. Dec. 19 at Gulfstream. The Greg Sacco trainee has a record of four wins and one second from five starts at Aqueduct.

Shoplifted (Into Mishief) rates an upset chance, particularly if the pace gets hot. Third in both the Woody Stephens and H. Allen Jerkens last year, he flew home from last to just miss when second by a neck making his seasonal debut Feb. 6 at Oaklawn. Rounding out the quintet are last-out Tom Fool winner Chateau (Flat Out) and Souper Stonehenge (Speightstown), who was a close runner-up to ill-fated G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen upsetter Zenden (Fed Biz) in the Pelican S. Feb. 13 at Tampa.

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The historic Carter is the first Grade 1 of 2021 on the NYRA circuit as part of a loaded five-stakes card headlined by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, offering 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Also featured Saturday are a trio of Grade 3 stakes, including the $250,000 Gazelle at nine furlongs for sophomore fillies offering 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points; the $200,000 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores; and the $150,000 Excelsior at nine furlongs for older horses.

Mischevious Alex, a 4-year-old Into Mischief colt trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., won the one-turn mile Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct and seven-furlong Grade 3 Swale at Gulfstream Park last year for former conditioner John Servis.

The versatile dark bay is perfect in two starts since joining the Joseph, Jr. stable, including a prominent score in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 13 last out traveling six furlongs on a fast track.

Joseph, Jr. said Mischevious Alex has proven his ability over multiple distances and tracks.

“I feel pretty confident with him at six furlongs. He's won at seven furlongs and he's won over that track already at a mile,” said Joseph, Jr. “I like that he's won on the track and I think seven furlongs is well within his reach.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., winner of the last three Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey, will have the call on Mischevious Alex from post 4. The 28-year-old Ortiz, Jr. enjoyed a tremendous winter at Gulfstream with a record-setting 140 wins at the championship meet.

Joseph, Jr. said the accomplished jockey will have plenty of options to find a winning trip.

“He's very versatile,” said Joseph, Jr of Mischevious Alex. “If they're going slow enough, he could be on the lead. If not, he's very rateable for a horse with a lot of speed.”

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control will look to add a fourth Grade 1 win at a third NYRA track following previous success in the 2018 Hopeful at Saratoga, the 2019 Woody Stephens at Belmont and the 2019 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga.

The 5-year-old Stay Thirsty horse has enjoyed past success at the Big A, where he is 4-for-5, including scores in the 2019 Grade 3 Bay Shore and last year's Grade 3 Toboggan and Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap.

Mind Control finished third last out in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up won by Sleepy Eyes Todd on December 19 at Gulfstream Park.

Junior Alvarado has the call from the inside post.

Michael Dubb's Chateau is the likely pacesetter after making the grade last out in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap, a six-furlong sprint on March 6 at the Big A that garnered the 6-year-old Flat Out gelding a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Trained by Rob Atras, Chateau boasts a record of 7-9-8 from 33 career starts but has never won past 6 1/2-furlongs.

Chateau worked a swift four furlongs in 49.49 on March 20 over the Belmont dirt training track and followed with an easy half-mile in 51.66 on Saturday.

“He's coming off just shy of a month between starts,” said Atras. “He's run his best performances when we were about six or seven weeks in between races, so a month isn't too bad. You would like to have more time off after such a big performance like his last race, but his last two works were good, and he came out of the Tom Fool pretty well.”

Kendrick Carmouche retains the mount from post 5.

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods' Shoplifted is multiple Grade 1-placed, posting a runner-up effort in the one-mile 2019 Hopeful at Saratoga and last year was the third-place finisher traveling seven furlongs in both the Woody Stephens at Belmont and H. Allen Jerkens at the Spa.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief colt has banked $527,000 via a record of 11-2-2-3, including a win in the 2019 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. Shoplifted finished second last out in his seasonal debut when bested by next-out winner Special Reserve in an optional-claiming sprint on February 6 over a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park.

Shoplifted will emerge from post 3 under Jose Ortiz.

Rounding out the field is Live Oak Plantation's homebred Souper Stonehenge. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the 5-year-old Speightstown gelding will make his Big A debut from a runner-up effort in the six-furlong Pelican on February 13 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Tyler Gaffalione will guide Souper Stonehenge from post 2.

The Carter is slated as Race 6 on Saturday's 11-race program. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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Fellow ‘TDN Rising Star’ Echo Town (Speightstown) captured a Churchill optional claimer May 25 prior to a runner-up effort in the Woody Stephens. The third-place finisher in that test, Shoplifted (Into Mischief), is also a ‘TDN Rising Star’ and winner of the Springboard Mile S. at the end of last year. Also exiting the Woody Stephens is fourth-place finisher Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief), winner of the GIII Swale S. Feb. 1 and GIII Gotham S. Mar. 7.

Eight Rings (Empire Maker) looks to return to his juvenile form in this test. Winner of the GI American Pharoah S. last term, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ could only manage sixth in the GI TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile S. Nov. 1 and was fifth in his seasonal bow in Oaklawn’s Bachelor S. last time Apr. 25.

Tap It To Win (Tapit) should relish this cut back in trip. Capturing a six-panel event at Gulfstream May 9, the bay wired the field when stretched to 1 1/16 miles at Belmont June 4 and was wheeled back just 16 days later in the nine-furlong GI Belmont S., where he faded to fifth after setting the pace.

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The Into Mischief bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, arrives at Saturday's seven-furlong test for sophomores on a three-race streak that includes scores in the Parx Juvenile in November and the Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park ahead of his Gotham glory.

Servis said he had considered Saturday's nine-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes for Mischevious Alex, who is returning to the top flight off a three-month layoff.

“I'd love to be running in the Belmont,” said Servis. “But I wanted to run him shorter first back off the layoff and then stretch him out after that. The Woody Stephens seemed like a good spot.”

Mischevious Alex worked a half-mile in 51.42 seconds Tuesday morning at Parx Racing in preparation for the Woody Stephens.

“He's training very good coming into the race,” said Servis. “We had some time between races with the coronavirus and I eased off on him a little bit because we didn't have a schedule.”

Undefeated since the addition of blinkers for his Parx Juvenile score, Mischevious Alex boasts a record of 7-4-1-1 with purse earnings of $344,230. Servis said he is looking forward to racing at Belmont Park.

“It's awesome,” said Servis. “Anytime you get to run in a Grade 1, it's exciting and the fact that I'll be able to go up there and saddle him and see him run is even more exciting. I haven't been able to do much of that of late.”

Kendrick Carmouche, aboard for the Gotham win, retains the mount from post 3.

Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin's No Parole, trained by Tom Amoss, has won 4-of-5 career starts. The Louisiana-bred Violence bay, a $75,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, posted double-digit wins in his first two career starts in restricted affairs at Fair Grounds romping a six-furlong maiden event in December before sprinting to a 13 ¼-length allowance score in January.

No Parole made it three straight wins with a 6 ½-length score in the restricted one-mile Premier Night Prince in February at Delta Downs ahead of an off-the-board effort in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Rebel in March on a sloppy strip at Oaklawn Park.

Last out, No Parole returned to sprinting with a front-running score in an open optional-claiming sprint on April 14 at the Hot Springs, Arkansas oval.

“This is a horse that showed he's an open company caliber horse last out,” said Amoss. “With limited options these past few months, there have been allowance races popping up with some really good horses at Oaklawn, here at Churchill and at Belmont, so that was a good race out of him last time. We think he's a top sprinter.”

No Parole will emerge from the inside post under Luis Saez.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods' Shoplifted and L and N Racing's Echo Town.

Shoplifted, an $800,000 purchase from the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, graduated on debut in a maiden sprint in July at Saratoga Race Course. The Into Mischief bay next contested a trio of Grade 1 events finishing second in the Runhappy Hopeful on September 2 at Saratoga, fifth in the American Pharoah on September 27 at Santa Anita and seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on November 1 at Santa Anita.

Shoplifted, off the board in a trio of sophomore starts at Oaklawn Park at distances of one mile or longer, returns to sprinting Saturday.

Echo Town, by Speightstown and out of the Grade 2-winning Menifee mare Letgomyecho, is a half-brother to 2017 Grade 3 Gotham winner J Boys Echo. A $100,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Echo Town has made five starts, all in six-furlong sprints on the main track. He graduated in January at Fair Grounds ahead of a trio of efforts at Oaklawn Park that included an allowance win in March and a runner-up effort in the Bachelor on April 25.

Last out, Echo Town went gate-to-wire on May 25 in an optional-claiming sprint at Churchill Downs.

“Echo Town came in Tuesday in good shape. He's got a lot of weight on him and looks really good,” said assistant trainer Toby Sheets. “Shoplifted has been here and he's been training beautifully. I think he's got a really good shot.”

Jose Ortiz will pilot Shoplifted from post 5 and Ricardo Santana, Jr. will guide Echo Town from post 4.

Colts Neck Stables' Meru has flashed brilliance in just four career starts for trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, the Sky Mesa bay graduated on debut in July at Monmouth Park and followed up with a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure, winning the six-furlong Smoke Glacken at the Oceanport, New Jersey oval.

Meru endured a troubled trip in the one-mile Grade 3 Nashua in November at the Big A when pinched at the break and steadied before rallying to finish second behind well-regarded Independence Hall. Last out, in his seasonal debut in a May 25 optional-claiming sprint at Churchill Downs, Meru demonstrated a good late kick to be fourth, defeated less than a length by Woody Stephens-rival Echo Town.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call aboard Meru from post 2.

Carded as Race 2 at 12:25 p.m. Eastern on Saturday's 12-race slate, the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Claiborne Farm will feature on America's Day at the Races, produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, and airing live on FOX Sports and MSG+. Free Equibase-provided past performances are available for races that are part of the broadcast and can be accessed at www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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