Mitole won four Grade 1 races in his 2019 Eclipse Award champion sprint campaign, winning by an average of more than two lengths. He had to work a bit harder for his latest title. Mitole was North America’s top freshman sire of 2023, leading Spendthrift Farm stablemates Maximus Mischief, Vino Rosso, and Omaha Beach, in that order. The quartet was separated by a total of less than $500,000, a narrow margin considering today’s purse structures. Mitole, who had earnings of $2,626,827, also led by winners, with 35. Maximus Mischief, with 30 winners, checked in at $2,273,236. Vino Rosso and Omaha Beach each had 24 winners and earnings of $2,193,544 and $2,129,783, respectively. They were the only freshmen to break the $2 million mark. All four had multiple stakes winners. “It’s not surprising to any of us that any one of those stallions has been successful,” said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. “As we’ve evolved over the years and we’ve stood more stallions, we’re very fortunate to have a wonderful crew here in our sales department, in our booking department, and up in our stud barn. “What that’s done is, we’ve been able to cultivate a really great base of breeders. So I think these four horses doing what they’ve done is a credit to the team here, and it’s really a credit to our breeders and the support they’ve given us and what they’ve been able to generate.” Mitole, by Eskendereya, scored his biggest wins in the Metropolitan Handicap and Breeders’ Cup Sprint. A half-brother to classic-placed Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie, Mitole has shown some distance capability in his progeny. V V’s Dream won the Grade 3 Pocahontas going a mile at Churchill Downs and was second in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at two turns at Keeneland. Ice Cold won Oaklawn Park’s Year’s End at a mile. “I don’t think anybody had any doubts he was going to be a wonderful source of speed, but I think people wondered how far these would go,” Toffey said. “Mitole is one of those sprinters who was nearly unbeatable at six furlongs, but he was able to stretch out and win the Met Mile, and that’s maybe a clue that there’s something more there.” Mitole will stand for $15,000 this season. Grade 2-winning juvenile Maximus Mischief, a son of Spendthrift’s leading sire Into Mischief, will stand for $25,000 in 2024. He is the sire of three stakes winners. “He was extremely fast, he was clearly talented, precocious, although he was demonstrating that he could stretch out as well,” Toffey said. “I think any time a son of Into Mischief is successful, I don’t think anybody’s going to be terribly surprised.” Vino Rosso won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic to secure a divisional Eclipse as older dirt male. The son of emerging sire of sires Curlin is set to stand for $25,000 after siring two stakes-winning sprinters in 2023. His son The Wine Steward did finish second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity around two turns at Keeneland, hinting at the stamina that is prevalent in this sireline. “I still feel like they’re only going to get better with time,” Toffey said. “I think he’s sort of outperformed expectations, at least from a timeframe standpoint.” Omaha Beach, by War Front and from the family of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady, was a Grade 1 winner around both one and two turns. The sire of two stakes winners, he will stand the coming season for $40,000. “One of the things you see with Omaha is, so many of his winners have done it in really impressive fashion, and I think a lot of people are taking their time with these horses,” Toffey said. Following the Spendthrift quartet in the top 10 of the freshman list, always a closely-watched race, were Flameaway (Darby Dan Farm), Audible (WinStar Farm), Solomini (McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds), Enticed (Darley), Catalina Cruiser (Lane’s End Farm), and World of Trouble (Hill ‘n’ Dale). Grade 2 winner Coal Front, who also debuted at Spendthrift, checked in 13th.