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Taking Stock: Los Al Futurity’s Predecessor Produced Sires

When it comes to “sire-making races,” the Gl Metropolitan H. is usually the first that's thrown into the conversation. Quality Road, the 2010 winner, is the most notable recent example, and before him it was Ghostzapper in 2005, but that's about it for the past 20 years despite the race's vaunted reputation. The Gl Florida Derby is a better recent gauge for making stallions: Nyquist (won in 2016), Constitution (2014), Dialed In (2011), Quality Road (2009), Scat Daddy (2007), Empire Maker (2003), and Harlan's Holiday (2002) are a stronger group than the Met Mile winners since 2002.

Harlan's Holiday sired Grade l winner Into Mischief in his first crop, and Into Mischief holds a wide-margin lead over second-place Quality Road on the general sire list with a month to go, $27,148,605 to $20,426,226, despite Quality Road's son Emblem Road's 2022 earnings of $10,110,758 – most of that from winning the world's richest race, the G1 Saudi Cup.

Into Mischief stands at Spendthrift for $250,000 live foal and has led the general sire list each year since 2019, and this will be his fourth consecutive year doing so.

The Spendthrift kingpin's lone Grade l win came in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park in 2007. The race is now called the Los Alamitos Futurity and is a Grade ll event. It will be contested on Dec. 17 during the six-day Winter Thoroughbred Meet at Los Alamitos, which begins this weekend and features the Gl Starlet S. for juvenile fillies Saturday. Both races could have an impact on the leading freshman sire race.

Among colts, Justify's (Scat Daddy) promising son Arabian Lion is being targeted for the Futurity. At the moment, Hill 'n' Dale's Good Magic (Curlin), who sired Gll Remsen S. winner Dubyahnell Saturday; Spendthrift's Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), the sire of Gll Kentucky Jockey Club S. winner Instant Coffee the Saturday before; and Justify are in a heated three-way battle for the championship. Each has at least one colt for the Classics preps so far–Justify's Champions Dream won the Glll Nashua S. on Nov. 6, and before that, Good Magic's Blazing Sevens won the Gl Champagne S. Oct. 1–but the standout division leader is three-time Grade l winner Forte, who will be named champion juvenile colt of 2022.

Forte is by Hill 'n' Dale's Violence (Medaglia d'Oro), who also won the Gl CashCall Futurity, in 2012. Like Into Mischief, the race was Violence's only top-level win. Those two alone could give the CashCall Futurity some clout as sire-making race, but there's more.

The race was called the CashCall Futurity for seven years at Hollywood, from 2007 to 2013, and two other winners of it with subsequent stallion bona fides were the now-deceased Pioneerof the Nile (won in 2008), who stood at WinStar, and Coolmore America's Lookin At Lucky (2009). Into Mischief, Pioneerof the Nile, and Lookin At Lucky each has a Gl Kentucky Derby winner: Authentic, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and Country House, respectively. It's four if Mandaloun is thrown in for Into Mischief. That's four of the last eight winners of North America's most prestigious race – quite the haul, isn't it? Will Forte make it five of nine?

Synthetic Surface

If all of this wasn't surprising enough, recall that the CashCall Futurity was contested on a synthetic surface at Hollywood. In retrospect, the facts belie the longstanding hypothesis held at the time by many in the business that all-weather racing would lead to the ruin of dirt sires, which Into Mischief, Pioneerof the Nile, Lookin At Lucky, and Violence decidedly are. And, no slight to the others, Into Mischief is an iconic stallion who inhabits another sphere altogether.

Into Mischief also happens to be the only one of these four CashCall Futurity winners to race entirely on all-weather. Trained by Richard Mandella for B. Wayne Hughes, Into Mischief won three of six starts and was second in each of his other three starts, earning $597,080.

Pioneerof the Nile, a son of Empire Maker, raced on dirt and turf as well as all-weather, winning a Saratoga maiden special at two on turf in his second start for Bill Mott. In his next start in the Gl Lane's End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland on all-weather, Pioneerof the Nile was third. After that, he was fifth in the Gl Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Oak Tree's all-weather Santa Anita meet, and then he was switched by owner Zayat Stable from Mott to Bob Baffert and kept in training in California.

For Baffert, Pioneerof the Nile next won the CashCall Futurity. The colt began his 3-year-old season with three consecutive wins at Santa Anita in the Gll Robert B. Lewis, the Gll San Felipe, and the Gl Santa Anita Derby. He made his first start on dirt in the Derby, finishing second to Mine That Bird. After an 11th-place finish in the Gl Preakness, Pioneerof the Nile was retired with a record of five wins from 10 starts and $1.6 million in earnings. All of his stakes wins were on synthetic surfaces at either Hollywood or Santa Anita. Before his premature death at age 13, Pioneerof the Nile stood for $110,000 at WinStar.

Baffert also trained Lookin At Lucky, a champion at two and three for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. Lookin At Lucky, by Smart Strike, won five of six starts at two, all on all-weather, including the Gl Del Mar Futurity in addition to the CashCall Futurity at the highest level. Unlike Into Mischief and Pioneerof the Nile, Lookin At Lucky also won on dirt, including two Grade l races, the Preakness and the Haskell Invitational. Altogether, the colt won nine of 13 starts and earned $3.3 million before entering stud at Coolmore America, where he's still a productive stallion standing for a bargain fee of $10,000. In Chile, where he has shuttled through the years, he has an exceptional record of Group 1 success.

Todd Pletcher trains Forte and also trained his sire, Violence, who ran for Black Rock Stables. Like Lookin At Lucky, Violence won on dirt as well. The Medaglia d'Oro colt won a maiden special at Saratoga in his first start and followed up with a win in the Gll Nashua at Aqueduct before crossing the country for the CashCall Futurity. He made only more start after that, a second-place finish in the Gll Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream and was retired with a record of three wins from four starts and $623,000 in earnings.

Like Into Mischief, the CashCall Futurity was his lone win at top level. Violence will stand for $50,000 next year, up from $25,000 this year, and in Forte he has a legitimate Triple Crown contender and his first champion. Before Forte, who won the the Gl Hopeful at Saratoga and the Gl Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland in the lead-up to nailing the juvenile championship with an impressive upset of previously undefeated Cave Rock in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Violence was mostly known for three Grade 1-winning sprinters, Dr. Schivel, No Parole, and Volatile.

Forte has elevated Violence's profile into the Classics realm, and if the colt continues to progress and lands the Derby, he'll put Violence into an elite club of CashCall Futurity winners who have sired Derby winners. But even if Forte doesn't win the Derby, these four stallions have put the CashCall Futurity up there with other races that are more frequently associated as sire makers.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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Mind Control Goes Out In Style In Cigar Mile

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stable's Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), who has competed in 27 stakes since his debut in 2018, closed out his career in style Saturday, scoring his 11th black-type victory and third at the highest level in Aqueduct's GI Cigar Mile.

With GI Pennsylvania Derby runner-up Zandon (Upstart) bet down to 3-5, Mind Control was dispatched as the 3-1 second choice, a gift to his faithful fans in his career finale. Away quickest of all, the bay was outrun by 58-1 shot Outlier (Not This Time) and was content to stalk that rival from second through a :23.26 first quarter. The 6-year-old veteran was patiently handled by John Velazquez through a :46.55 half-mile with Get Her Number (Dialed In) tracking intently to his outside in third and White Abarrio (Race Day) not far behind. Mind Control sidled up beside Outlier at the three-quarter pole with Get Her Number joining him on the outside and White Abarrio sneaking up the fence to join the fray, making it four across the track turning for home.

Zandon ranged up five wide just off their heels, looking like he might join the group as Outlier threw in the towel and retreated. Mind Control, White Abarrio and Get Her Number locked horns, battling down the lane as Zandon unsuccessfully tried to play catch up. Mind Control forged clear in the final sixteenth to complete his career on high note with a head success over Get Her Number. It was a half-length back to White Abarrio in third and another two back to Zandon in fourth.

“If you like horse racing, you've got to love this horse,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “He's cool. He's done it consistently year after year at multiple distances. He's a great horse to be able to train. He's remarkably consistent and shows up every morning.”

He continued, “When he broke well, I was happy and there was a moment in the first sixteenth of a mile where I wasn't so sure if he was liking the surface, which a couple of times in the past he hadn't cared for. But then once he got into a good rhythm down the backside, I was confident. He's the type of horse that if you get into a battle with him, he's going to fight.”

Pletcher added, “Stay Thirsty won [the 2012 Cigar Mile] in probably one of the best head bobs we've ever had in racing, so it's kind of cool that his offspring was able to win it.”

“The last two times he ran over a track like that, he was out of the pack,” Velazquez said. “The first sixteenth of a mile, he broke good and I was like, 'Oh, please. Don't do this to me.' He seemed like he was going to go, but he came out of the bridle. So, I passed the chute and kind of put him into the bridle and he got comfortable. I felt much better the way he was going towards the turn and when the other horse [Get Her Number] came to him, he got competitive. So then I felt like he was going to fight. When that horse put his head in front of me and didn't pass me, I was like, 'This is going to be a fight here.' And sure enough, I went left handed on him, he responded and put his head in front and it was a really good fight to the wire.”

On what Mind Control means to him, the Hall of Fame pilot said, “I've been around this horse for five years and he's been a really decent horse and shows up to the big dances with really tough horses–and he does it all the time. I'm a little sad to see him go because he's one of the horses that kind of keeps me in the game and kind of looking forward to these kinds of races. He's gone, so I'll have to start looking for something else to keep me in the game.”

Scoring his first Grade I win in the 2018 Hopeful S. at Saratoga, Mind Control took the Jerome S. and GIII Bay Shore S. in 2019, and captured his second Grade I that year with a gutsy score in Saratoga's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Opening 2020 with wins in the GIII Toboggan S. and GIII Tom Fool H., both at the Big A for former trainer Greg Sacco, the homebred did not visit the winner's circle again until July of 2021, taking the GII John A. Nerud S. in his first start for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. He won the Parx Dirt Mile two starts later and was third in this year's GI Carter H. Off the board in the GI Churchill Downs S. in May, Mind Control scored a gritty victory over Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in Monmouth's GIII Salvator Mile June 18. Completing the trifecta in the GII Charles Town Classic Aug. 26, he crossed the line a neck second in the Sept. 24 Parx Dirt Mile, but was promoted to first via DQ.

Pedigree Notes:

Mind Control is one of five graded winners by Stay Thirsty, who now stands in California, and is his only North American Grade I winner. He is also the sire of a Group 1 winner in South America. The winner is out of fellow Red Oak homebred Feel That Fire (Lightnin N Thunder), a stakes-winning half-sister to MSW & GSP King For A Day (Uncle Mo) and a full to MSW Ima Jersey Girl. Her 3-year-old filly Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft), retained by Red Oak and trained by Pletcher, ran second in both the GII Rachel Alexandra S. and GII Gulfstream Park Oaks this term. Feel That Fire's juvenile filly White Hot Gold (Candy Ride {Arg}) debuted at Tampa Saturday just eight minutes before her half-brother's swansong, finishing sixth. The 15-year-old mare failed to get in foal to Uncle Mo for 2021, but had a filly that sire in February of this year. She visited both Curlin and Uncle Mo this spring.

Saturday, Aqueduct
CIGAR MILE H. PRESENTED BY NYRA BETS-GI, $750,000, Aqueduct, 12-3, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.53, sy.
1–MIND CONTROL, 122, h, 6, by Stay Thirsty
                1st Dam: Feel That Fire (SW, $147,280), by Lightnin N Thunder
                2nd Dam: Ubetwereven, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Raysor Lake, by Private Account
O-Red Oak Stable (Brunetti) & Madaket Stables, LLC; B-Red
Oak Stable (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez.
$412,500. Lifetime Record: 29-12-3-6, $2,185,834. *1/2 to
Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft), GISP, $335,875. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Get Her Number, 120, c, 4, Dialed In–Fancier, by Bernstein.
($45,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Gary Barber; B-Philip & Brenda
Robertson (KY); T-Peter Miller. $150,000.
3–White Abarrio, 118, c, 3, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by
Into Mischief. ($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21
OBSMAR). O-C Two Racing Stable & Antonio Pagnano;
B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $90,000.
Margins: HD, HF, 2. Odds: 3.15, 8.50, 3.65.
Also Ran: Zandon, Outlier, Double Crown. Scratched: O Besos.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Julia ‘Shines’ in Demoiselle

Just like her full-sister, champion Malathaat (Curlin), Julia Shining (Curlin) not only won her debut at Keeneland Oct. 16, but did so in 'TDN Rising Star'-fashion. And she followed in her GI Breeders' Cup Distaff-winning sister's hoofprints once again Saturday, capturing the GII Demoiselle S. in the slop at Aqueduct.

Favored just like her sister, albeit at 1-2 instead of 2-5, Julia Shining was even farther back than Malathaat was in her Demoiselle, racing in second last as 37-1 shot Tribal Queen (Bolt d'Oro) clocked opening splits of :24.61 and :49.35. Pushed along by Luis Saez every step of the way while racing off the trail, the Stonestreet homebred still had plenty left to do as three quarters went in 1:14.31. Swung out six wide turning for home, the bay dug deep beneath a vigorous hand ride from Saez, sweeping past Affirmative Lady (Arrogate) and stablemate Gambling Girl (Dialed In) in the final strides to win by a neck. With the win, she earned 10 points towards a start in the GI Kentucky Oaks.

“Clearly she has tons of natural talent and is still putting it all together,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “We knew from her debut that she didn't like the kickback, and you add the sloppy track into that today, so that was our biggest concern was trying to get her into the clear. Unfortunately, the only way to get her into the clear was to go pretty wide, but she's got so much natural stamina that we felt the mile and an eighth was really going to play to her strengths. The only concern I had was she has never run on an off track. The mile and an eighth [was not a concern]. That's what she really is looking for.”

The Hall of Famer continued, “She was clearly not handling things [down the backstretch] and Luis [Saez] was trying to encourage her to improve position and finally did it around the quarter pole. Once she found a rhythm down the lane, she started to close and Luis said she kind of got her head in front and then wanted to wait a little bit.”

Pletcher said Julia Shining would go to Florida, while third-place Gambling Girl would remain in New York this winter.

“The trip was good. She's still learning,” Saez said. “The track was pretty sloppy.”

Asked when the winner found her rhythm, Saez said, “At the top of the stretch, just the top of the stretch. The whole way she was not interested. She doesn't like [the kickback]. I feel like the track was a no, but when everybody started running at the top of the stretch, she just got by and stayed.”

Pedigree Notes:

Julia Shining's ultra-talented sister Malathaat opened her account with five straight wins for Pletcher. She won the Tempted S. in between her debut and the Demoiselle and captured the GI Central Bank Ashland S. en route to a GI Kentucky Oaks win. Malathaat also captured the GI Alabama S. last term and finished third in the Distaff, clinching the Eclipse award for top 3-year-old filly. She will likely take home another championship title this year after three Grade I wins, topped by a gutsy Distaff score last month, after which she was retired to Shadwell's broodmare band.

While Malathaat was sold to Sheikh Hamdan's operation for $1.05 million at KEESEP, Julia Shining was retained by Barbara Banke, just like all of her dam Dreaming of Julia's other foals. The daughter of A.P. Indy had one foal in between the two Curlin fillies, an unnamed 3-year-old colt by Medaglia d'Oro. The 12-year-old mare had a Medaglia d'Oro filly in 2021 and another Curlin filly Apr. 4 of this year. She was bred back to Into Mischief.

Also a Stonestreet homebred trained by Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, regular pilot of Malathaat, Dreaming of Julia captured the GI Frizette S. and GII Gulfstream Oaks. She is a daughter of dual Grade I winner Dream Rush (Wild Rush), who is also the dam of MGSW Dream Pauline (Tapit) and SW Atreides (Medaglia d'Oro).

Julia Shining is the 50th graded winner and 92nd black-type scorer for the mighty Curlin. She is also the 120th graded victor and 254th black-type winner out of a daughter of the late, great A.P. Indy. In addition to Malathaat and Julia Shining, the Curlin/A.P. Indy cross is also responsible for MGISWs Stellar Wind, Clairiere and Nest; and Grade I scorers Global Campaign, Idol and Paris Lights.

Saturday, Aqueduct
DEMOISELLE S.-GII, $250,000, Aqueduct, 12-3, 2yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:53.05, sy.
1–JULIA SHINING, 118, f, 2, by Curlin
       1st Dam: Dreaming of Julia (GISW, $874,500), by A.P. Indy
       2nd Dam: Dream Rush, by Wild Rush
       3rd Dam: Turbo Dream, by Unbridled
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. 'TDN Rising
   Star' O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Luis Saez. $137,500.
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $194,075. *Full to Malathaat, Ch.
3yo Filly, MGISW, $3,790,825. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple
Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Affirmative Lady, 118, f, 2, Arrogate–Stiffed, by Stephen Got
Even. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($210,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP; $400,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-AMO Racing
USA; B-Alastar Thoroughbred Co, LLC (KY); T-H. Graham
Motion. $50,000.
3–Gambling Girl, 118, f, 2, Dialed In–Tulipmania, by Empire
Maker. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($200,000 Ylg '21 SARAUG).
O-Repole Stable; B-Gallagher's Stud (NY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$30,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 0.55, 7.10, 9.40.
Also Ran: Royal Spa, La Vita Sofia, Foggy Night, Tribal Queen.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Cigar Mile Program Headlines Saturday Stakes Action

Enjoy your day at the Big A.

Led by the GI Cigar Mile H. and three other graded events, Aqueduct's loaded 10-race card will be in the spotlight in South Ozone Park Saturday.

Zandon (Upstart), winner of the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and third-place finisher in the GI Kentucky Derby this spring, cuts back to a one-turn mile for Chad Brown in the feature. The dark bay, favored at even-money on the Cigar Mile's morning-line, also finished third in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and second in the GI Pennsylvania Derby last time Sept. 24.

Fellow Grade I-winning sophomore White Abarrio (Race Day) will also shorten up here. He tired to fifth after setting the pace in the Pennsylvania Derby last time. The handsome gray has been firing bullets at Saffie Joseph, Jr.'s Gulfstream Park base for this.

Two-time Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), drawn widest of all in post seven (he'll move in one slot with the scratch of O Besos), will look to close out his career on top. The 2018 GI Hopeful S. winner and 2019 GI H. Allen Jerkens S. winner was moved up to first via disqualification after falling a neck short in a roughly run renewal of the Parx Dirt Mile S. last out Sept. 24. The 6-year-old boasts a record of 7-4-2-1 at Aqueduct, including a trio of graded wins. A stud deal for Mind Control will likely be finalized in the days following the Cigar Mile, according to Rick Sacco, racing manager for co-owner Red Oak Stable.

“He's been a great horse for us and accomplished a lot before he even came to us, but he's been a real neat horse to be around,” said Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who seeks a record-extending sixth Cigar Mile victory. “He enjoys his job and has always liked Aqueduct.”

Juveniles, meanwhile, will take centerstage in the GII Remsen S. and GII Demoiselle S., both at the demanding distance of 1 1/8 miles.

Stonestreet homebred Julia Shining (Curlin), a full-sister to champion 3-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Malathaat, will head straight into the deep end versus six rivals in the Demoiselle. The bay kicked off her career with an eye-catching come-from-behind victory for Pletcher going seven furlongs at Keeneland Oct. 16. She is the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the Demoiselle. Malathaat, also trained by Pletcher, won this same race in 2020.

“Physically, they're a little bit different, but they're both very impressive fillies to watch train and she's shown talent from the beginning,” Pletcher said. “I always felt like the further she gets the opportunity to go, the better she'll get. That's why we have been pointing for the Demoiselle.”

A field of seven will also line up for the Remsen, led by unbeaten Rocky Run S. winner Tuskegee Airmen (Street Sense) and New York-bred Arctic Arrogance (Frosted), a last out winner of the Sleepy Hollow S.

Aqueduct's Saturday program also includes the GIII Go For Wand S. for older fillies and mares.

Welcome to Hollywood

A very deep field of 11 have been entered for the GI Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. New York shippers 'Rising Star' Wit (Practical Joke) and Celestial City (Uncle Mo) are the top two on the morning-line. Slightly favored Wit just missed by a neck for Pletcher in Keeneland's GIII Bryan Station S. Oct. 29. Celestial City posted a come-from-behind win for Shug McGaughey in Aqueduct's GII Hill Prince S. Oct. 22.

The Hollywood Derby field also includes: GIII La Jolla S. winner and GII Twilight Derby winner Cabo Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile); Cinema S. winner War At Sea (War Front); and Let It Ride S. winner Handy Dandy (Fury Kapcori).

Del Mar's Saturday card also includes a wide-open renewal of the grassy GIII Jimmy Durante S. for 2-year-old fillies.

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