Horse of the Year Authentic was a breakout horse for dominant stallion Into Mischief, becoming his sire’s first classic winner and never finishing worse than second in eight starts while earning more than $7.2 million. He looks to extend his sire’s influence as a highly anticipated freshman sire of 2024. Authentic, who stands alongside Into Mischief at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky., won three graded stakes in the first part of the pandemic-shuffled 2020 racing season, highlighted by the Grade 1 Haskell. He was brave on the lead to turn back favored Tiz the Law in the Kentucky Derby that September, and finished second, beaten just a neck by champion filly Swiss Skydiver, in the Preakness Stakes a month later. Authentic concluded the season, and his career, with a front-running 2 1/4-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland, besting champions Improbable and Maximum Security and Grade 1 winners Global Campaign, Tom’s d’Etat, and Higher Power. Authentic, Into Mischief’s first Eclipse Award-winning son, will have his first juveniles in the sales arena and on the track this year as the kingpin is fresh off more accolades. Into Mischief claimed his fifth consecutive leading sire title in 2023 and has been emerging as a sire of sires, with three sons finishing second on the freshman earnings list in the last six years. Goldencents finished second on the 2018 freshman earnings list, and led his class by winners. He went on to be the leading second- and third-crop sire by both earnings and winners the next two years. Practical Joke, the sire of nine Grade/Group 1 winners, has been second to the record-setting Gun Runner on the first-, second-, and third-crop sire lists. Last year, Maximus Mischief finished a close second on the freshman earnings list. “We’re certainly big believers in Into Mischief and his ability to sire sons that are going to be effective stallions,” said Ned Toffey, general manager for Spendthrift, which also stands Goldencents and Maximus Mischief. “We’ve already seen a little of that with Goldencents, seeing it again with Maximus Mischief, and certainly, good signs from Authentic as well. It’s clearly a very prepotent sireline.” Into Mischief is poised to have a major impact on this freshman race. In addition to Authentic, his other sons in this class are graded stakes winner Instagrand (Taylor Made Farm) and graded-placed stakes winner Honest Mischief (Sequel Stallions), both of whom have gotten strong support. The precocious Instagrand was a seven-figure 2-year-old purchase by Larry Best and has been bred to prominent producers and racemares purchased by that owner to support him. His first yearlings averaged more than 5.9 times his stud fee. Honest Mischief, from the immediate family of classic winner and sire Empire Maker, raced as a homebred for Juddmonte, which has supported him as he brings the Into Mischief line to the flourishing New York market. His yearlings averaged more than 6.2 times his stud fee last year. “We have several Honest Mischiefs that are doing really well and will be spread amongst the 2-year-old sales, with others going directly to the races,” said Carlos Manresa, Sequel’s director of operations. Authentic arrived at Spendthrift less than 48 hours after his Breeders’ Cup Classic win. His stellar résumé resulted in a $75,000 stud fee, the highest in his class. He averaged $285,033 with his first yearlings last year – not only the highest in the class, but still more than 3.8 times his fee. Six of his yearlings sold for $800,000 or more, led by a colt now named Innovator, purchased for $900,000 by BC Stables at the Keeneland September sale. “One of the things I’m really excited about with them is, you saw people really competing in the sales ring to get these Authentics,” Toffey said. “That’s a big leg up for a stallion. “I think people are going to give these horses whatever time they need. I think there’ll be plenty that are very precocious – and I think there’s some where, you saw enough leg and enough scope on these that you would think they may take a little bit more time.” Authentic leads another strong band of freshmen for Spendthrift, which swept the top four spots on that earnings list in 2023. The farm also is looking forward to the first runners for Vekoma, whose multiple Grade 1 wins included the Metropolitan Handicap, and multiple graded stakes winner Thousand Words. In contrast to Authentic, who blossomed as a 3-year-old, both of his stablemates were graded stakes-winning juveniles, hinting at precocity that could benefit their offspring. Both performed well in the sales ring last year, with Vekoma, in particular, averaging more than 4.8 times his introductory stud fee with offspring that were described by both weanling and yearling buyers as strong physicals. Joining Authentic as freshman sires with a six-figure yearling average are McKinzie (Gainesway Farm), Volatile (Three Chimneys Farm), and War of Will (Claiborne Farm). Of that trio, Grade 1-winning sprinter Volatile delivered the greatest return on investment, with his yearlings averaging more than 6.8 times his stud fee. Volatile and McKinzie – a versatile runner who was a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile and as an older horse, and both sprinting and routing – distinguished themselves by recording seven-figure lots at the Keeneland September sale. Volatile was the only member of the class to break through in the sale’s elite Book 1 portion, with a filly out of Grade 1 winner Love and Pride, one of several strong mares Three Chimneys supported him with in his first season. That filly, now named Bundle, sold for $1.15 million to Mike Rutherford. In Book 2, a McKinzie colt out of Puca, dam of Kentucky Derby winner Mage and graded stakes winner Dornoch, sold for $1.2 million to Mayberry Farm as agent for CRK Stable. War of Will, by the versatile and internationally popular War Front, won the 2019 Preakness Stakes and also was a Grade 1 winner on turf. Joining him and Authentic as classic performers in this class are Tiz the Law (Coolmore’s Ashford Stud), winner of the pandemic-adjusted 2020 Belmont Stakes; Maximum Security (Ashford), who crossed the line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified for interference; and Country House (Darby Dan Farm), promoted to the win in that Derby. Joining Authentic and Maximum Security, the 2019 Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old, as champions in this class are 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and divisional champion Game Winner (Lane’s End Farm) and Improbable (WinStar Farm), 2020’s champion older dirt male.