Mia Mischief Would Have Home-Field Advantage in BC

Owner Bill Heiligbrodt said he has no interest in entering a horse in the Breeders' Cup World Championships just to participate. If he enters, he's entering to win.

Heiligbrodt's blazingly fast sprinter Mia Mischief has been giving him plenty of reasons to believe she belongs in the starting gate Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).

Campaigned in partnership with Heider Family Stables and Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, the 3-year-old, graded stakes-winning filly by Into Mischief  out of the Speightstown  mare Greer Lynn has finished off the board only once in 10 starts. More significantly in terms of the Breeders' Cup, two of her four victories came on Churchill's main track and include her biggest win in the Eight Belles Stakes presented by Kentucky Trailer (G2). In the Eight Belles, Mia Mischief earned a career-high 110 Equibase Speed Rating.

"I will say, the Breeders' Cup being at Churchill does make a difference," Heiligbrodt said. "She has trained there most of her life … it is like home ground. If it was in California, it might be a little different."

Mia Mischief, trained by Steve Asmussen, made her debut at 2 at Churchill, where she finished second by 1 1/2 lengths. She came back at Keeneland in her next start and won by 16 1/4 lengths after leading every step of the sloppy six furlongs and stopping the timer in 1:09.98.

This year, Mia Mischief has been tested only in black-type company. She was second in her 2018 debut at Oaklawn Park in the listed Dixie Belle Stakes and followed up with a win in the listed Purple Martin Stakes and then the Eight Belles.

Her only off-the-board finish came July 8 at Belmont Park in the Victory Ride Stakes (G3), where she led the field through fractions of :22.25, :44.63, and 1:09.75 while locked in a speed duel with Classy Act. She faded to fifth in the final order but was only two lengths behind the winner. Mia Mischief powered back in her next start, the Aug. 4 Longines Test Stakes (G1), where she was beaten at the wire by Separationofpowers.

"The Test was a heartbreaker," Heiligbrodt said. "The really good horses are consistent, and she seems always to be able to lay down good races. If you look at the fractions, she has never had an easy time.

"This filly is very, very fast," he continued. "Steve has done an awfully good job getting her to where she is today, because she gives so much in every race."

Mia Mischief has been nominated for the $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G2) to be run Oct. 6 during Keeneland's Fall Stars Weekend. She comes into the six-furlong TCA off a second to Dream Tree in the Sept. 2 Prioress Stakes (G2) and last worked four furlongs Sept. 15 in :51.03 at Saratoga Race Course.

Heiligbrodt alone and with partners has had six Breeders' Cup starters. His best performances so far are fourth-place finishes from Posse in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), Bwana Charlie in the 2004 Sprint, and Appealing Zophie in the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).

He had another brilliant female sprinter named Lady Tak, who set a stakes record in 2003 in the seven-furlong Test Stakes (1:20.83), which she still owns, and won the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). She started in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) that year, but nine furlongs didn't suit her and she finished last. Lady Tak redeemed herself the next year when she set a 1:21.09 track record in the seven-furlong Ballerina Handicap (G1), again a record she still holds, and won the Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2).

"She was as amazing as Mia Mischief and unbelievably fast," recalled Heiligbrodt. "Unfortunately, there wasn't a Breeders' Cup race that fit her because they didn't have the Filly & Mare Sprint back then."

The Filly & Mare Sprint was introduced in 2007 at Monmouth Park when the Breeders' Cup expanded its card and changed to a two-day format. 

Having a Breeders' Cup race more tailored to Mia Mischief's strengths provides yet another incentive for Heiligbrodt and his partners to take a swing in the World Championships. 

Heiligbrodt found Mia Mischief in 2017 at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale, where he originally planned to sell instead of buy. 

"I don't buy a lot of horses out of in-training sales," he said. "While I was there, I happened to see her. I thought she might be the fastest horse in that sale, and I like fast horses; that's my style. She was fast and equally good-looking."

The $300,000 filly consigned by the McKathan Brothers caught Heiligbrodt's attention also because she is by Spendthrift Farm's sire Into Mischief. The owner was already racing an Into Mischief stakes winner named Golden Mischief, who won six black-type stakes and earned more than $518,000. She was later sold as a broodmare prospect to Juddmonte Farms for $475,000 at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale in 2017.

"(Golden Mischief) was an outstanding mare and an unbelievable physical specimen. She was the first Into Mischief that I've had, and I was really excited about the size of the mare and how much speed she had," Heiligbrodt said. "This mare (Mia Mischief) fit that type. She is not a small mare. They just seem to have a lot of talent, so I was surprised I bought her as reasonably as I did. I have now had two Into Mischiefs, and they both have been exceptional. He made his own pedigree and is an outstanding stallion."

How Mia Mischief fares in the TCA at Keeneland will ultimately decide whether she punches her ticket to the Breeders' Cup.

"Though we have been planning in this direction, I leave the decision to Steve," Heiligbrodt said. "You know how horse racing is: You wait until the last possible moment to make a decision." 

Still, Heiligbrodt is happy to have a racehorse who has shown enough talent to be a serious Breeders' Cup contender—for himself; his wife, Corinne; and their partners.

"I've done very few partnerships, but we really enjoyed having the Heiders and Sol Kumin as partners," he said. "The horse has done very well since they bought in, so it has worked out well for everyone. The good ones are hard to find."