Mischievous Rogue surges to Robert S. Molaro victory

Not too many 6-year-old geldings are sold at auction. Mischievous Rogue, a 6-year-old gelding, fetched $160,000 earlier this month at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky’s Horses of Racing Age sale. He began paying back his new owners Sunday at Hawthorne, where he cruised past 1-2 favorite One Timer and captured the $100,000 Robert S. Molaro Memorial Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths.

Stumbling ever so slightly at the start, Mischievous Rogue raced from the rear of a six-horse field under Samuel Bermudez as One Timer, hustled from post 1 by David Cohen, set splits of 22.32 and 44.87 over a grass course officially rated “yielding” but surely not as wet at that designation.

One Timer, racing for the first time since September, grew leg-weary approaching the eighth pole just as Bermudez had Mischievous Rogue in full flight. Mischievous Rogue, getting three right-handed reminders from his pilot, clipped past the favorite, finding no resistance, and crossed the line much the best, stopping the timer in 56.39 for five furlongs.

One Timer ground out a second-place finish, three-quarters of a length better than 16-1 shot Money War. The strong second choice, Mischievous Rogue paid a generous $7.60.

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William Cowans trained Mischievous Rogue for his first 20 starts, the gelding only recently finding his niche in grass sprints, where he’s 3-2-0 from five such starts. Now trained by Mike Maker, Mischievous Rogue campaigns for Paradise Farms and David Staudacher. By Into Mischief out of Mahna, by Candy Ride, Mischievous Rogue finished a decent third last September at Kentucky Downs, where an already massive purse structure has taken another bump this year. One solid showing there, and Mischievous Rogue already will have paid for himself.

*** Earlier on the Sunday card, Daring Do, Walter Rodriguez riding the homebred filly for Lael Stables and trainer Wesley Ward, got up by a half-length over Laura’s Charm in the $100,000 Lady Carey Stakes. Daring Do paid $16.20 with Wide West rounding out a longshot trifecta as 17-10 favorite Oeuvre’s solid rally could only get her into fourth place. Oeuvre finished a nose in front of 2-1 second choice Riley’s Redemption, who was trying to get out through most of the far turn.

Four-year-old Daring Do also is by Into Mischief, and she was produced by the Blame mare More’n Likely. Daring Do, who clocked 57.09 for her five panels on grass, won for the fourth time in nine starts.

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