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Randy Howg's homebred Take Charge Tom overcame a stumble at the start to get his first graded stakes victory in the CA$200,000 Canadian Derby (G3) by 5 3/4 lengths Aug. 23 for trainer Robertino Diodoro at Century Mile Racetrack and Casino.

Rhetorical cruises to victory in Sunday’s West Point Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Coglianese Photo.

By Darby O’Brien

Rhetorical charged to victory in the $150,000 West Point Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Sunday afternoon.

“He’s very talented,” said Adam Wachtel, co-owner of the 4-year-old son of Not This Time. “We’re very excited about him and we think he’s got a very bright future. Will (Walden) has done a great job with him. He’s a nice horse.”

Rhetorical broke sharp from post six and settled into third as frontrunners Itsallcomintogetha and Gem Mint Ten led into the first turn. The leaders opened up a gap of 3 lengths as they travelled along the backside, with Rhetorical and Irad Ortiz Jr. biding their time. Ortiz angled the 4-year-old gelding to the outside as they entered the stretch and cut him loose.

Rhetorical blew by the frontrunners with ease, Bettrluckythangood rallying late with a fruitless challenge as the 2-5 favorite breezed to a 2 1/2-length victory in 1:39.71.

Rhetorical came into the West Point off back-to-back wins in allowance company. He most recently triumphed at Saratoga July 19. He debuted at the track last summer and won by 5 lengths. His lone defeat came in his second start exactly one year ago today, where he lost by three-quarters of a length to Clear Conscience, who finished fourth in the West Point.

“Every time we stepped up the company or the challenge, he does it. He handles it pretty easily,” said winning trainer Will Walden. “We just get him over here and he does the rest. That was the first time he really sat behind horses without fighting it. I do think it helped that they went 22, 45 in front of him. He was able to sit there. It’s his fifth start. He’s still got a long way to go but he’s doing good.”

Rhetorical sold for $320,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale out of the Denali Stud consignment. He’s owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber and Cheyenne Stables.

“There’s no better place to be than the winner’s circle,” said co-owner Everett Dobson of Cheyenne Stables. “It’s really special. … We’re partnered on a few with Adam (Wachtel) and Gary Barber. They’re great guys and I really enjoy partnering with them. So, when he made the recommendation, I said sure. That was an impressive effort. Incredible.”

Breeders Mallory and Karen Mort, who also bred multiple stakes winning New York-bred Sterling Silver out of the Distorted Humor mare Sheet Humor, agreed.

“It’s incredible, really,” said Mallory Mort. “We had his sister. We bred his sister, and she won a stake here last year. He was always pretty easy to get along with. He was a little tough as a yearling getting him prepped for the sale and stuff, but he was always a good boy. When he was born he was a little dis-mature, so he was a little behind when he was born. But he caught up and became a pretty nice horse.”

Foaled at Gallagher’s Stud in Ghent, Rhetorical is the fifth foal out of Sheet Humor, whose progeny include the stakes winning and graded stakes-placed Sterling Silver (by Cupid), who recently finished fourth in the Yaddo Stakes last Friday at Saratoga.

The post Rhetorical dominates West Point in stakes debut appeared first on New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At 6:30 Sunday morning, Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the hero of the 156h GI, $1.25 million Travers Stakes, was out and about around the Hall of Fame barn of trainer Bill Mott at the Oklahoma Training Track

The 3-year-old colt, fresh off his resounding 10-length win in the Travers, grazed in the courtyard at the barn, looking like he could run another 1 ¼ miles later in the day. The margin of victory is tied for the fourth largest in Travers history. Sovereignty's blowout win was the fifth time a horse has won by that much; the last time it happened was 1976 when Wajima (Bold Ruler) did it.

Bill Mott didn't come out of the race as well. He was sick with a nasty head cold but powered through. Having just won his first Travers – after failing with 13 other horses during his career–was better than any remedy he could have found at the drugstore.

The Travers' win gives Godolphin's Sovereignty five wins in six starts this year and he has all the big ones: the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and Travers plus the GII Jim Dandy and GII Fountain of Youth. His only loss came in the GI Florida Derby where he finished second.

“You saw a dang good 3-year-old,” Mott said with a smile when asked what anyone who watched the Travers saw on Saturday. “I think he locked up champion 3-year-old honors ..that confirmed it.”

What remains for Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado the rest of the year is one more test, the biggest yet. The GI, $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA, indicated that is the final goal for 2025.

Mott said Sunday that Sovereignty will remain at his Saratoga base until he heads to California. There, he could run into the likes of fellow 3-year-old Journalism (Curlin) and older horses such as GI Whitney Stakes winner and defending Classic winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), last year's Travers winner Fierceness (City of Light), the formidable Nysos (Nyquist) and Mindframe (Constitution), who is undefeated in three starts this year.

“I am sure the others will be concerned about (Sovereignty) as much as we will be concerned about everyone else,” Mott said.

Sovereignty has been feted by horse fans and horsemen and women alike since his victory in the Kentucky Derby. As each victory has followed, the superlatives have gotten larger.

Mott, like everyone else, has heard the word great being used to describe his horse.

“He is pretty darn good,” he said. “Greatness is defined by the test of time. You think greatness, you look at Forego and horses like that, horses that lasted more than one season. If they want to say great, I am not going to argue with them.”

 

Thorpedo Anna Likely to Stay Away From the Big Boys

After her popular–but nerve racking–victory in Saturday's GI, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes, reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) was bright and alert at trainer Kenny McPeek's Saratoga barn early Sunday morning.

Any time a peppermint wrapper was rustled near her stall, she stuck her head out looking for the sweet treat. And she got plenty of them, following her brave win by a nose over Dorth Vader (Girvin), trained by George Weaver.

Thorpedo Anna and Danny Ramsey after her personal Ensign win | Sarah Andrew

The win was the 4-year-old Thorpedo Anna's 12th in 15 career starts and improved her 2025 record to four wins in five starts.

“She's doing super,” trainer Kenny McPeek said in his office at his barn across from the Oklahoma Training Track. “I just went through every horse I have here, and she's probably the cleanest one right now. Her legs are clean. Cleaned the feed tub. Dragging her hotwalker around. Typical Thorpedo Anna.”

Owned by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings Inc., Magdalena Racing, Mark Edwards and Judy Hicks, Thorpedo Anna will have one more start before the Breeders' Cup, either the GIII, $400,000 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on Sept. 28 or the GI, $650,000 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 5.

From there, it will probably be the GI, $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff, a race she won last year to complete a season of six wins in seven starts (five Grade Is). In the Personal Ensign, she was ridden, as always, by Brian Hernandez Jr., who has been her partner in all 15 races.

McPeek came to that conclusion after watching Sovereignty (Into Mischief) chew up four other rivals in Saturday's GI Travers Stakes.

“You've got to watch your competition, and that horse yesterday was ultra-impressive,” he said. “The time he ran, the way he did it. Even if he doesn't win the Classic, he's probably Horse of the Year. He's an amazing, amazing individual and for me to take him on..I'm a little intimidated by him. He's getting better and better. For her to take him on, we'd hesitate on that right now. Not that we're scared. We're realistic.”

 

Pletcher Makes it Official: Fierceness To Pacific Classic

Before making it official, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher wanted to make sure things went well on Sunday. Things went well on Sunday. That means that 4-year-old Fierceness (City of Light) is heading west to run in Saturday's GI, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

In order to make that happen, Pletcher had to like what he saw when 4-year-old Mindframe (Constitution) worked four furlongs in company with 3-year-old stablemate Classicist (Curlin). Mindframe  was timed in 49.45 (52/112) and is being pointed to the GI, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup next Sunday afternoon at Saratoga.

Fierceness (outside), White Abarrio and Sierra Leone in the Whitney | Sarah Andrew

Pletcher said he did not want to run the two against each other until the Nov. 1 GI, $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic, so Fierceness is likely to be on a plane to California Wednesday.

“It's obviously not an easy race by any means, assuming Nysos (Nyquist) and Journalism (Curlin) are in there,” Pletcher, outside his office at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning, said about the Pacific Classic. “I think the timing for the Breeders' Cup Classic is good; it gives us a little extra time.”

Fierceness, owned by Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier, will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in the Pacific Classic. Pletcher is not sure yet if he will fly west; his assistant Sophie Green will accompany Fierceness.

He said that Fierceness, fifth in the GI Whitney Stakes in his last start, will return to Saratoga after the race. Where he and the other Pletcher horses go after the Saratoga meet ends has yet to be determined.

“Last year, we stayed here, and it seemed to work out fine,” Pletcher said. “We will have to see what the weather does. We could go to Belmont, we could go to Keeneland.”

Mindframe, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, will be joined by stablemate Antiquarian (Preservationist) in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Owned by Centennial Farms, Antiquarian worked four furlongs in 48.65 (17/112) in company with 3-year-old stablemate Endorse (Curlin) Sunday on the main track.

 

The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Sovereignty’s Next Goal Will be a Classic appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Continuing to dominate her division, Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca) shrugged off the talented yet lightly-raced Formula Rossa (Vekoma) to win her second consecutive GIII Rancho Bernardo Stakes at Del Mar.

The race was also part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series heading toward the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, that will be run at Del Mar on Nov. 1. Sweet Azteca's victory earned her an additional $15,000 toward the $30,000 entrance fee for the $1-million race.

The 2-5 choice broke cleanly from the outside and came out swinging as she forged to the fore in tandem with TDN Rising Star Formula Rossa. Well clear of the others, the top two choices blazed through an opening quarter in a crisp :21.82 before throwing down an equally sparkling half mile in :43.81.

Given her cue by Juan Hernandez at the quarter pole, the grey shook free of her game rival in the stretch and ran clear late to score by 3 1/2 lengths, completing the task in 1:15.44 for 6 1/2 furlongs.

Formula Rossa finished 2 3/4-lengths ahead of closer Chismosa with Donttellourwives (Khozan) rounded out the complete order of finish.

“No, there was no problem with my horse running alongside that other one up the backstretch; my horse was enjoying it,” said Hernandez. “She likes a good fight. They were going fast, but she was going easy. When we hit the quarter pole, I asked her and we were gone. She's good.”

Winning trainer Richard Baltas added, “I thought they went a little too fast but obviously, they had a plan to hook me. I think that was a big mistake but they're trying to win and we're trying to win. My filly's a lot bigger and stronger. His horse is super talented. No surprises.”

The stakes win was the seventh of the meet for rider Hernandez and his third in the Rancho Bernardo. It was also the initial stakes victory of the meet for trainer Baltas and his first in the Rancho Bernardo.

Victorious in her sole start at three for trainer Michael McCarthy, Sweet Azteca won four of six starts in 2024, including the GI Beholder Mile over favored Adare Manor. Victorious in the 6 1/2-furlong GII Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos, she added a seven-length score in the Rancho Bernardo before tiring to finish a well-beaten fourth in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita Oct. 5.

Joining Richard Baltas for 2025, she launched her 5-year-old campaign the right way, defending her title in the Great Lady M, defeating dual Grade I winner Kopion (Omaha Beach) in the process.

 

Pedigree Notes:
Sweet Azteca is the sole Grade I winner for 2017 GI Cigar Mile winner Sharp Azteca, who stands at Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan. Sweet Azteca, a third generation homebred for Pamela Cee Ziebarth, is out of the Grand Slam mare So Sweetitiz, herself a MSW for Ziebarth.

The filly's fourth dam, Cee's Song (Seattle Song), was raced by Zeibarth's late mother Cecilia Straub Rubens, producing Horse of the Year and dual Breeders' Cup Classic hero Tiznow and multiple graded stakes winner Budroyale–both full-brothers to Sweet Azteca's third dam Tizsweet.

 

Sunday, Del Mar
RANCHO BERNARDO H.-GIII, $98,000, Del Mar, 8-24, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:15.44, ft.
1–SWEET AZTECA, 126, m, 5, by Sharp Azteca
                1st Dam: So Sweetitiz (MSW, $180,480),
                                by Grand Slam
                2nd Dam: Sweetitiz, by El Prado (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Tizsweet, by Cee's Tizzy
O/B-Pamela Cee Ziebarth (KY); T-Richard Baltas; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 9-7-0-1, $667,200. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Formula Rossa, 117, f, 3, Vekoma–Fay Na Na, by Majestic Warrior. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($130,000 Ylg '23 KEEJAN; $270,000 Ylg '23 FTKOCT). O-Muir Hut Stables LLC; B-Greathouse Equine, LLC & Glencrest Farm, LLC (KY); T-Mark Glatt. $20,000.
3–Chismosa, 119, m, 5, Clubhouse Ride–You Can Dream, by Cat Dreams. O/B-Jaime R. Renella (CA); T-Rafael DeLeon. $12,000.
Margins: 3HF, 2 3/4, 6 1/4. Odds: 0.40, 1.70, 11.90.
Also Ran: Donttellourwives. Scratched: Visually.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

SWEET AZTECA ($2.80) and @JJHernandezS19 throw down in the $100,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) at @DelMarRacing for trainer Richard Baltas and owner/breeder Pamela Ziebarth.

Watch on-site coverage of Del Mar on @FanDuelTV. Bet with @FanDuel Racing.https://t.co/XK3TJD0A2X pic.twitter.com/mtgDkJs1rx

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) August 24, 2025

The post Sweet Azteca Too Much for Rancho Bernardo Foes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX – The annual single session Texas Yearling Sale put on by the Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) and hosted by Dallas-area Lone Star Park is set for 10 a.m. CT on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

The TTA catalogue has blossomed from 207 head in 2024 to 261 this year. The offerings include 63 from Texas, 115 from Louisiana, 30 from Arkansas and 11 from Oklahoma. An additional 22 horses have been entered for the mixed session for a total of 283.

By the numbers, the 2024 edition, which showcased one of the smaller catalogues in sale history, reported 175 sold for $3,240,000. The average was $18,542 and the median was $11,000, while 77 went unsold.

With over 60 on offer, the largest consignment goes to Highlander Training Center, whose sales prep for this year's sale is led for the first time by Colin Brennan.

“We are looking forward to a very positive Texas sale this year,” said Chairman & CEO of Highlander Training Center Jeff Hooper. “We had tremendous interest from owners this year not only from Texas, but from Kentucky to Louisiana, to Arkansas to California for us to prep and sell their yearlings.”

Hooper said that the auction has proven to be a marketplace where pinhookers can buy quality prospects, but it also serves those who are looking to race.

“We have worked to tailor our consignment to provide what both types of buyers are looking for,” he said. “Colin is an exceptional horseman and well-connected throughout the industry.”

The TTA catalogue includes a range of sires, plus first-crop stallions like Corniche, Early Voting, Mo Donegal, Mandaloun and Cyberknife.

Click here to access the TTA website and here for the online catalogue.

The post Annual Texas Yearling Sale Hosted By Lone Star Park Set For Tuesday Aug. 26 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Quisisana could be the surprise invite to European racing's biggest party after earning a free supplementary entry for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) with a win in the Prix Jean Romanet (G1) Aug. 23.

Connections of Journalism confirmed his entry into the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar, while Fierceness is confirmed to run as long as Mindframe stays on track for the Aug. 31 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

Karl Burke has trained some brilliant fillies in the last decade, but Venetian Sun is well on the way to becoming the most talented of the whole pile after winning the Prix Morny.

Though trainer Mark Glatt said that Dr. Venkman doesn't like running on the rail, the gelding powered through a large opening to score in the Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar and earn a Win & You're In berth to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Completing a sweep of the three major sprints at Saratoga Race Course this summer, Book'em Danno asserted himself atop the sprint division with a win in the $500,000 Forego Stakes (G1) Aug. 23.

2023 Woodbine Oaks winner Elysian Field handled the cutback to seven furlongs with aplomb, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse in the Aug. 23 Seaway Stakes (G3) at Woodbine.

A mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be held Aug. 24 at Gulfstream Park. 

Cicero Farms' homebred Hope Road followed in the footsteps of her dam, Marley's Freedom, the 2018 Ballerina winner, and prevailed by two lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

Dispatching longshot Bracket Buster in early stretch, Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Sovereignty scores a dominant victory in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) Aug. 23 at Saratoga Race Course.

Horseplayers will have plenty to chase on the Aug. 24 closing-day program at Ellis Park, highlighted by a mandatory payout in the 20-cent Dade Park 6 Jackpot wager.

Whether running on wet track or a fast surface, Patch Adams is the best 3-year-old stakes sprinter at Saratoga Race Course this year.

Thorpedo Anna showed the world just how big her heart is with a dramatic nose victory over Dorth Vader in the $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) Aug. 23 at Saratoga Race Course.

The Tapit filly employed new tactics this time, switching up her late-closing style to set the pace under new jockey Jose Ortiz.

On the day before the win in the GI Forego Stakes by Book 'em Danno (Bucchero), trainer Derek Ryan had already made up his mind about the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. He had no plans to go.

“I'm really not that interested in the Breeders' Cup,” Ryan said. “I have no desire to go there. I'm sure I'll be pressured into it, but the Breeders' Cup is not on my radar. I'm not keen to run him on a track that I don't think will suit him. The stretch is too short and the track is speed-favoring. I don't know why they keep running the Breeders' Cup in California. We have some very good tracks here in the East.”

Book 'em Danno is a 4-year-old and a gelding and Ryan wants to keep him around for several more years.

“He's run four monster races in a row, starting with the race at Churchill,” he said. “They've been tough races. It has taken a little bit out of him. We want him to last. I need him around for a few more years. I'll get together with the partners and we will discuss it. Of course, the $2-million purse means something but I want the horse around for a few years. We'd like to extend his career for as long as possible and that's why I'm not convinced that going to the Breeders' Cup is the right thing to do.”

In the Forego, the New Jersey-bred Book 'em Danno won by a length in what may have been his hardest race to date. But it also firmly established him as the top sprinter in the country. If the Breeders' Cup were run next week he'd likely be the favorite. He's won three graded stakes in a row, all of them at Saratoga. The list also includes the GIII True North Stakes and the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes.

The Forego, Book 'em Danno's second Grade I victory, might have been a game-changer. After what he showed on Saturday at Saratoga how can you not run him in the Breeders' Cup?

By Sunday, Ryan had softened his stance a little bit.

“We'll talk about it down the road,” he said. “I am sure I will have a meeting with the partners. I'm a bit set in my ways. It's not a no and it's not a yes. It's a maybe.”

Book 'em Danno is owned by Atlantic Six Racing, a group of six friends, all of them from the Jersey Shore.

Jay Briscione is the managing partner. His thoughts on the Breeders' Cup?

“It's the trainer's job to do what he is doing,” Briscione said. “By any metric you look at, this is probably the most consistent horse in training. He deserves all the credit and Derek has done a great job. We have a good relationship with Derek and we always kick these things around and try to figure out the best spots for him. He is a gelding, We have a stewardship of him now because we want to keep him going and racing because he's developed such a following. Having said that, none of us has ever had a horse for the Breeders' Cup and it's an unbelievably exciting thing. I know it's a cliche. But we want to first see how he reacts and how he comes out of this race. Then we'll make our decision.

“The negatives are that he'll have to face some very good, fresh horses like Straight No Chaser and Bentornato. They'll be fresh and we've gone through a tough campaign. We'd have to ship all the way across the country. It's a speed favoring track with a short stretch. Those are the negatives. The positive is the $2-million purse. We're keeping an open mind.”

No Triple Crown for Sovereignty

While nothing is certain in racing, it sure looks like Sovereignty (Into Mischief) would have won the Triple Crown had his connections decided to run him in the Preakness. He's simply the best 3-year-old around and even a super horse like Journalism (Curlin) can't beat him. Why would the Preakness have been any different?

But this is what happens when the Triple Crown sticks to a schedule that calls for horses to run three times in five weeks and with only two week's rest between the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Preakness Stakes. Trainer Bill Mott and the Godolphin team thought that was too much to ask of their horses and skipped the Preakness.

He's since won the GI Belmont Stakes, the GII Jim Dandy Stakes and Saturday's Grade I Travers Stakes You can't blame Mott or the owner. They genuinely believed that running in the Preakness was not the right thing to do for the horse. But what if the Preakness were run on the first Saturday in June, which would have meant five weeks between the Derby and Preakness, the same gap that is now between the Derby and the Belmont?

Unless they expand the time between the races, this could be a continuing problem. I have never understood why trainers are so afraid to run their horses back on short rest, but they are. Sovereignty won't be the last Kentucky Derby winner to pass the Preakness. And every time that happens the sport will miss out on a possible Triple Crown winner.

An intransigent NYRA won't hear of moving the date of the Belmont, even though their premier race has much to lose if they don't change their minds. First Saturday in May. First Saturday in June. First Saturday in July. That's the answer.

Belterra Stewards Got It Right

Congratulations to the stewards at Belterra Park, who did a lot more than slap leading rider Albin Jimenez on the wrist. Instead, they brought the hammer down after watching the replay of a ride in Thursday's second race at Belterra that was, to say the least, suspect.

It was trainer Tom Drury, who saddled Jimenez's mount, the 3-5 shot Afleet Vintage (Afleet Alex), who asked the stewards to review the race. Afleet Vintage broke sharply and actually took the lead going into the first turn. But from there, it appeared that Jimenez had a tight lock on the horse and wasn't going to be happy until he wound up last. At the same time a horse named Permit to Carry (Goldencents), swooped to the lead

on the far turn and looked unbeatable at that point. Jimemez finally started asking his horse and closed for a non-threatening second. The winner was ridden by Summer Pauly.

We don't know what Jimenez said to the stewards, but they obviously weren't impressed, handing him a one-year suspension. The suspension will be reduced to six months if he does not file an appeal. Too many other stewards would have suspended him for 15, maybe 30 days. The Belterra stewards gave him the type of penalty that was appropriate for a ride like that. Good for them.

The post Book ‘Em Danno Connections Wrestling with Breeders’ Cup Decision appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The Saturday opener at Del Mar featured two of the sexier pedigrees in the entire 2025 crop of 2-year-olds in the form of Provenance (Into Mischief), the first foal to the races out of two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), and Plutarch (Into Mischief), a son of fellow champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind (Curlin).

But in the end, it was Intrepido (r, 2, Maximus Mischief–Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect) who stole the show, repelling a wide bid from 1-2 Provenance and shooting clear to score by 3 1/4 impressive lengths, earning a 'TDN Rising Star'.

The clear second choice in the wagering at 12-5 off a debut fourth behind 'Rising Star' Brant (Gun Runner) and the third-placed Balboa (Not This Time), named a 'Rising Star' himself for an open-lengths score at second asking, Intrepido hit the ground running and led through the early exchanges, but relaxed kindly enough inside of Biggiebiggiebiggie (Maclean's Music) while holding his spot at the rail through a half in :47.34.

Provenance, off slowly and then consigned to a three- and four-wide trip thereafter, came with a marauding run on the second turn to loom a brief threat passing the quarter pole, but his exertions finally took their toll and Intrepido strode home to win easily in the very strong time of 1:35.71 for the mile. Plutarch caboosed the field down the back, but found his best stride in the lane and outfinished Provenance to round out the exacta.

Intrepido fetched just $30,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, but blossomed into a $385,000 OBS April juvenile after breezing an eighth of a mile in a slick :9 4/5, albeit very greenly. Former trainer Mike Pender signed the ticket on behalf of his clients Dutch View Holdings and Irving Ventures, the same ownership that campaigns GIII Unbridled Sidney Stakes heroine Queen Maxima (Bucchero), a graduate of the OBS June Sale. The latter is expected to make her next start in the GIII Green Flash Handicap here on the GI Pacific Classic undercard on Aug. 30.

Intrepido has a yearling half-brother by Caracaro, a foal half-sister by the Into Mischief son Fulsome and his dam was most recently bred back to Maximus Mischief.

1st-Del Mar, $80,000, Msw, 8-23, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.71, ft, 3 1/4 lengths.
INTREPIDO, r, 2, by Maximus Mischief
1st Dam: Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect
2nd Dam: Wittenberg Miss, by Smart Strike
3rd Dam: Fortunate Faith, by Fortunate Prospect
Sales history: $30,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP; $385,000 2yo '25 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $52,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Dutch Girl Holdings LLC & Irving Ventures LLC; B-Sierra Fria Farm LLC (KY); T-Jeff Mullins.

 

 

#4 INTREPIDO ($6.80) couldn't be caught in the opener at @DelMarRacing. @HIBerrios rode the two-year-old son of @SpendthriftFarm's Maximus Mischief to this maiden win. @Jmullinsracing trains.

Provenance, the first foal out of Monomoy Girl, finished third in his debut. pic.twitter.com/G9apnbGjLN

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) August 23, 2025

 

 

The post Maximus Mischief Colt Intrepido Upstages Into Mischief Duo En Route To a Del Mar ‘Rising Star’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.