Not This Time threatening Into Mischief's grip on top sire title
:quality(75))
At the midway point of 2026, a closer battle than in years past is shaping up for North America’s leading general sire title, with Not This Time in front of seven-time consecutive leader Into Mischief by earnings.
Through June 30, Not This Time, who stands at Taylor Made Farm, is the sire of 93 individual winners from 241 starters, including 17 stakes winners. The 12-year-old stallion has progeny earnings of $18,809,287. Meanwhile, Spendthrift Farm kingpin Into Mischief, 21, is the sire of 115 winners from 304 starters, including 18 stakes winners, for earnings of $16,891,293. That margin of less than $2 million is relatively slim, with the major summer race meets and the Breeders’ Cup still to come this year.
Not This Time’s runners this year are led by Magnitude, winner of all three of his starts, including the Dubai World Cup and, last Saturday, the Stephen Foster. Not This Time is also the sire of Grade 1 winners in the late Claret Beret and Rhetorical, who has helped place him atop the turf sire list by earnings at this midway point of the year.
Into Mischief recently passed the milestone of 100 graded stakes winners on his career. He is led this season by classic-placed Grade 1 winners Renegade and Commandment, as well as Grade 1 winners Eclatant and Shred the Gnar. Into Mischief has led the general sire list each year since 2019, the first stallion to secure that many consecutive titles since the legendary Bold Ruler from 1963 to 1969. Bold Ruler claimed an eighth title posthumously in 1973, the year his son Secretariat dominated the Triple Crown.
Rounding out the top five on the general earnings list are Gun Runner (Three Chimneys Farm), sire of Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner, at $12,309,009; Nyquist (Darley), sire of Metropolitan Handicap winner and Saudi Cup runner-up Nysos, at $11,004,462; and Curlin (Hill ‘n’ Dale), sire of Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo, at $10,033,121.
Tracks began carding 2-year-old races in April, meaning that division is about a third of the way into its season, rather than halfway. At this point, standout turf sprinter Golden Pal (Coolmore’s Ashford Stud) leads both overall 2-year-old sires and his freshman sire class by both earnings and winners, with six winners from 20 starters for earnings of $367,771. Fellow freshman sire Life Is Good (WinStar Farm) is second on the 2-year-old earnings list, with proven stallion Girvin (Airdrie Stud) third with his first Kentucky-conceived crop after moving from Florida.
The 2-year-old season could be crucial as Not This Time and Into Mischief play out their battle, as both were among the leading sires at the yearling sales last season, with a number of highly anticipated progeny yet to debut. Not This Time’s current 2-year-olds were his first conceived on a six-figure stud fee, as his price jumped from $45,000 in 2022 to $135,000 in 2023, suggesting that he is poised for another stellar season with his juveniles in 2026.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.