Into Mischief, Gun Runner pursue stallion records

Reigning leading sire Into Mischief and rising star Gun Runner both sired Breeders’ Cup winners, and exit last week with stallion records in sight before the end of 2021.

Into Mischief is the sire of dazzling Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good. The Spendthrift Farm stallion also saw his Eclipse Award champion daughter Gamine finish third in her defense of the Filly and Mare Sprint. As of Monday morning, those performances had helped push Into Mischief’s 2021 earnings to $21,827,179. He is only $678,906 away from his own single-season earnings record for a North American sire of $22,506,085, established last year.

Remarkably, Into Mischief has kept on pace to break his own record despite missing a dominant horse such as his chief earner from 2020, Horse of the Year Authentic, who accounted for more than $7.1 million in earnings. Into Mischief’s top earner this season, with more than $1.5 million, is Mandaloun, who has not started since July.

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Horse of the Year Gun Runner, who stands at Three Chimneys Farm, was represented by two first-crop starters on the Breeders’ Cup Friday program. His daughter Echo Zulu rolled to her third straight Grade 1 victory in the Juvenile Fillies, and Pappacap was second in the Juvenile.

“A very special filly,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Echo Zulu. Asmussen also trained the filly’s sire for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-campaigns Echo Zulu with L and N Racing.

“She means so much to us,” Asmussen continued, “and the fact that she is the first crop of Gun Runner, everything that he did for us, it’s surreal that we’re back here at Del Mar for the second Breeders’ Cup when his crowning moment was the Breeders’ Cup here in 2017.”

Gun Runner is leading not only the freshman sire list, but also the overall 2-year-old sire list, with earnings of $3,521,956 as of Monday morning. He is just $110,358 shy of Uncle Mo’s earnings record for a North American freshman, $3,632,314 earned in 2015.