Into Mischief's Saratoga Shift

Consignors often talk about "sire power" when assessing the quality of the horses entered in a given sale. This metric is fluid because the commercial appeal of stallions ebbs and flows year to year.

Heading into The July Sale at Fasig-Tipton, North America's first yearling sale of the season, many sellers talked about how that auction continues to be vibrant for first-crop and second-crop yearling sires. In part, the younger sires maintain a high profile because of the Kentucky sale's proximity to The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale. As soon as the summer sale-caliber progeny of a proven sire start to rise, their presence will start to dip in July and increase at the Saratoga sale.

Spendthrift Farm's Into Mischief  is this year's best example of a sire whose progeny made this transition.

A 14-year-old son of Harlan's Holiday, Into Mischief was a popular sire at the 2015 July sale, with eight of 10 yearlings offered selling for an average of $109,000. That year, when he was standing for $35,000, he was represented by five cataloged at the Saratoga sale, of which three sold for a $200,000 average.

The summer of 2016 turned out to be a pivotal time in the marketplace for Into Mischief. He was represented by only three sold at the July sale ($42,667 average) and nine sold at the Saratoga sale ($176,667) in what were down years for the sire but also down years for these sales overall. These sales also took place before we saw the true abilities of an Into Mischief juvenile that year named Practical Joke , who turbocharged his sire's commercial appeal. The colt out of Halo Humor (by Distorted Humor ) didn't break his maiden at Saratoga until Aug. 6 when he won his debut by five lengths. He strung together consecutive wins in the Sept. 5 Hopeful Stakes (G1) and the Oct. 8 Champagne Stakes (G1) and ended his 2016 campaign with a third in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

Prior to the summer of 2016, Into Mischief earned early respect getting two-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Goldencents  in his first crop along with graded stakes winners Vyjack, Miss Mischief, and Best Behavior. With a second multiple grade 1 winner in Practical Joke, Into Mischief had five yearlings sold at the 2017 July sale for an average of $191,000 and seven sold at The Saratoga Sale for an average $345,000. 

The yearling sales landscape for Into Mischief shifted even more dramatically in 2018. The sire was represented by five sold from five offered in July for a robust $222,000 average, but at Saratoga his 13 sold from 13 offered averaged $423,462.

This year, five Into Mischief yearlings were offered at the July sale, and only two sold for an average of $162,500. Sixteen yearlings represented Into Mischief when Fasig-Tipton released its Saratoga catalog, and 14 are still on track to be offered. With Into Mischief now sitting atop the general leading sires list with $9,665,361 in progeny earnings and 144 winners, more than any other North American sire, the commercial expectations for his Saratoga offerings are higher than ever.

"He has elevated himself now to being a sire of sires," said Andrew Cary, a partner in Select Sales, which has three Into Mischief yearlings entered in the two-night Saratoga sale that starts Aug. 5. "You see Goldencents doing well and Practical Joke was well-received, so now people think if they get a really good son of his that he could be a big-time stallion prospect."

Into Mischief's high number of winners goes a long way toward bolstering the value of his sale yearlings, according to Cary.

"He has a very high ceiling, but he also has a very high floor. You know whatever Into Mischief you get, you're pretty much getting a runner," he said. "From his limited opportunities early on, he's done very well. Now that he is getting the bigger books and bigger opportunities, you see his percentages are staying the same. I think it will help him get more of those classic-pedigreed-type horses. In a couple years, he may be the best sire in the country if he's not there already."