Mischief making good

Into Mischief is well on his way to breaking Tapit’s global progeny earnings record for a year.

As we went to press, the Spendthrift Stud sire was just $400,000 off the record, writes Melissa Bauer-Herzog

IN WHAT IS quickly turning into a golden era of stallions around the world, Into Mischief has become the King of North America on track to win his second straight general sires’ championship.

The sire of a Kentucky Derby winner (G1) and two Breeders’ Cup race winners this year, the Spendthrift stallion is also set to break Tapit’s 2016 progeny earnings record by the end of the year.

Sitting at $19,517,782 in worldwide earnings as of November 12, Into Mischief needs just under $400,000 in worldwide earnings to hit the mark.

It has been a banner year for the 15-year-old, who ended the Breeders’ Cup with both Gamine and Authentic winning their races in track record times. His two-year-old filly Dayoutoftheoffice also finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

The stallion earned a deserved fee increase to $225,000 for 2021, but before the fee was even announced, he had already been booked full.

There are plenty of other options for breeders looking for Into Mischief blood however, with six of his sons slated to stand in Kentucky in 2021.

Joining Goldencents and Maximus Mischief at Spendthrift is the likely Eclipse champion three-year-old the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Authentic for $75,000, while, across town from Spendthrift, Taylor Made introduces the Best Pal Stakes (G2) winner Instagrand for $7,500.

Into Mischief leads the sires’ tables in nearly every category, except for graded stakes winners, with that honour going to Uncle Mo, who also ties for the lead by graded stakes horses.

Uncle Mo: sire and sire of sires

The sire of 14 graded stakes winners this year, Uncle Mo had eight Grade 2 winners with 10 of his graded stakes winners born in 2017 and two born in 2018.

While the stallion wasn’t able to get a Grade 1 winner before we went to press, Uncle Mo capped off the main part of the season with his colt Golden Pal winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2), with Lipizzaner fourth in the same race.

The stallion showcased his prowess as both a sire and a grand-sire during the Breeders’ Cup’s Friday races when he also sired the Juvenile Fillies third-placed Girl Daddy.

Meanwhile, three of his first sons to go to stud saw their own runners perform admirably.

Darley’s Nyquist followed in his sire’s footsteps with a Breeders’ Cup winner in his first crop and WinStar Farm’s Uncle Mo duo of Laoban and Outwork also had placers in the races.

Leading all freshmen in nearly every category, Nyquist looks set to lock up both the freshman championship and bag a champion in that first crop after Vequist’s win in the Juvenile Fillies.

If he is able to do that, he’ll again follow in his sire’s footsteps – Nyquist himself was a two-year-old champion from Uncle Mo’s first crop.

Benefitting from his first “post-Nyquist” crops on the track this year, Uncle Mo has put together the best results of his stallion career and really is becoming a sire of sires.

Nyquist is almost certainly the champion freshman sire, while Laoban and Outwork sit third and fourth in the freshman race by earnings.

Uncle Mo’s late stablemate Giant’s Causeway has a secure line to carry on his influence in Europe, but in the US the success of his line lands squarely on Not This Time’s shoulders.

The freshman has done admirably and is leading all freshmen by winners and stakes horses – his top performer being the Grade 1 Debutante Stakes winner Princess Noor.

Nyquist: the US champion freshman sire, son of Uncle Mo and sire of Grade 1 winner Vequist

Retired to Taylor Made after his juvenile season, Not This Time has attracted top mares in nearly each of his first four crops, a factor which will surely keep him in the headlines for the next few years.

Benefitting from his first “post-Nyquist” crops on the track this year, Uncle Mo has put together the best results of his stallion career

Among the two-year-olds he has for next season is a filly out of Leslie’s Lady, a half-sister to Into Mischief and Beholder.

It is no surprise that American Pharoah is again the leader of his generation, heading the second-season sires’ ranks in nearly every category.

Fans and horsemen alike were a little concerned in September when the stallion was still lacking an all-important Grade 1 winner, but, as usually happens, that was an omission quickly remedied.

Only a week after Pista finished second in the Group 1 Prix de Royallieu, Harvey’s Lil Goil gave American Pharoah his first Grade 1 winner when taking the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. She went onto finish a close third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) less than a month later.

Two weeks later, Van Gogh proved that the stallion can get top-class juveniles as well with a 4l victory in the Criterium International (G1) at Saint-Cloud.

The sire of 10 stakes winners and 14 stakes horses in five countries this year, American Pharoah is just one stakes winner behind Night Of Thunder.

While he sits third by earnings behind two Japanese stallions among all northernhemisphere second-crop sires, he tops all northern-hemisphere sires of the same generation in nearly every other category.

The 2021 breeding seasons sees multiple stallions moving to Kentucky, but the most welcome surprise for many breeders is Lane’s End Farm securing a deal with the Turkish Jockey Club to bring Daredevil back to the US.

Exported to Turkey at the end of 2020, Daredevil has had a break-out year with a one-two in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) courtesy of Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver, the latter going on to win the Preakness Stakes (G1).

The first stallion to sire both an individual Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner from his first crop, the stallion returns to Kentucky at a stud fee of $25,000 after standing his final season at WinStar Farm for $7,500 in 2018.

Sandwiched between American Pharoah and Daredevil on the second-season sires’ list is Constitution, who leads all sires in his class by stakes performers on 17.

The WinStar Farm stallion’s first crop was led by three-time Grade 1 winner Tiz The Law this year, alongside Grade 2 winner Laura’s Light for six stakes winners overall.

Bucking the fee trend WinStar followed when setting its 2021 fees this autumn, Constitution’s fee has been raised to $85,000.

As has been the case around the world, most northern-hemisphere stallions have seen a decrease in fees for 2021.

Even the top sires in the US have been given price reductions – War Front drops to $150,000 (from $250,000), Medaglia D’Oro to $150,000 (from $200,000) and Tapit to $185,000 (from $200,000). It means that only Into Mischief standing for $200,000 or more in the US for 2021.

Fee reduction a no-brainer says Hancock

For Claiborne’s president Walker Hancock, the decision to reduce stud fees on in-demand stallions was an easy one.

“In these unprecedented times, we felt it would be irresponsible to raise or keep some stud fees the same as last year, despite our stallions having outstanding success in the sales ring and on the racetrack,” he said.

“It is now more important than ever that we do what is best for the sustainability of our industry.”

In another sign of the times, alongside the lowered fees, is the number of stallions set to retire.

While many of the big names are joining studs in 2021, as of this writing, the number of stallions listed as retiring in North America on the Blood-Horse’s Stallion Register currently sits at 38.

That number is less than half of the 89 listed as retiring in 2020, while 101 new sires joined rosters in 2019.

While the Stallion Register doesn’t list every single stallion retiring each year, it has proven to be a good barometer on what the freshman sire ranks look like every year.

Even if the number doubles by the start of breeding season it will be the smallest number of freshmen to retire in over a decade.

Shedaresthedevil leads home Swiss Skydiver in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), a one-two for young sire Daredevil. The winner went on to finish third in the Spinster Stakes (G1) and the runner-up won the Preakness Stakes (G1). In third is Gamine, who went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). Daredevil has been brought back to the US from Turkey to stand at Lane’s End Farm for 2021