First Mission pulls away in stretch to win Alysheba Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An injury prevented First Mission from making an impact in the 3-year-old division last year. He seems well positioned to make his mark on the older male dirt division in 2024.

First Mission won his second consecutive stakes Friday, rallying past the surprising pacesetter T O Saint Denis inside the sixteenth pole and drawing away to a four-length victory in the Grade 2, $730,000 Alysheba Stakes at soggy Churchill Downs.

T O Saint Denis, in from Japan with Kentucky Derby entrant T O Password, held second by a nose over Il Miracolo. It was three lengths back to Steal Sunshine in fourth. He was followed, in order, by Call Me Fast, Money Supply, Trademark, and Pipeline. Tapit Trice and Tumbarumba were both scratched, owing to the sloppy track, according to their connections.

The victory was the fifth from eight career starts for First Mission, a son of Street Sense owned and bred by Godolphin and trained by Brad Cox. It was the second stakes win on the card for Cox, and the third straight stakes victory on the day for jockey Florent Geroux. Cox and Geroux teamed earlier to win the La Troienne with older dirt female champion Idiomatic.

First Mission was one of the favorites for last year’s Preakness Stakes but was scratched with a hind end injury that kept him out until the fall. He won an allowance race and was beaten a nose by Trademark in the Grade 2 Clark.

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First Mission was a no-show in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January, finishing ninth, but bounced back with a five-length victory in the Essex Handicap at Oaklawn in March.

In the Essex, First Mission was a close-up second early on. Friday, First Mission was third early as T O Saint Denis, under jockey Ryusei Sakai was gunned to the front opening up a five-length lead over Pipeline while running a quarter-mile in 22.96 seconds. First Mission was 6 1/2 lengths off the pace at that point but had gotten closer, while third on the inside of Pipeline after a half-mile in 46.77.

First Mission, racing on the rail, moved into second and set sail for T O Saint Denis who wasn’t really stopping.

First Mission got to the lead inside the sixteenth pole and drew clear for the win.

“I could feel [T O Saint Denis] was going a little too fast; this is my home track, I know when we are going a little quicker than normal,” Gerox said. “I wanted to keep my horse in a nice rhythm. I was very content to see him opening up and making the race very spread out, no one can block me in. From there, it’s very simple, the best horse is going to win. When I asked him at the three-sixteenths, he responded for me.”

First Mission covered the 1 1/16 miles over a sloppy track in 1:42.03 and returned $4.14 as the favorite. First Mission earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 106.

Cox said First Mission got the trip he expected, even if it was a different horse than he expected on the lead.

“We thought Pipeline would be on the lead and we might be tracking,” Cox said. “He did break very well and obviously would have been forwardly placed [if not] for the speed horse in there. Overall, proud of the effort, I think we got him in a rhythm now. We always thought he was a Grade 1-caliber horse. We believe there’s one with his name it, maybe multiple ones.”

First Mission will likely get the opportunity to win his first Grade 1 in the $1 million Stephen Foster here June 29.

T O Saint Denis came here as a stablemate of Kentucky Derby longshot T O Password. Sakai, who rides Forever Young in the Kentucky Derby, said the sloppy track made him ride the horse the way he did and that he was proud of the horse to finish second.

“The winner was a good horse, he was much the best,” Sakai said through an interpreter. “I’m really glad to ride here. I’m really honored to ride at Churchill Downs and I got a great result to finish second.”

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