White Abarrio gives Into Mischief chance to make statement as broodmare sire
It often takes longer for a stallion to prove himself as a broodmare sire than as a sire of sires. With no expensive stud deals in the offing, fillies sometimes race longer than colts – and, of course, once retired, they only have one foal a year to begin building their resume, as compared to a stallion, who will have dozens of shots at stakes victories in each crop.
"A stallion might get 100 2-year-olds in a crop right off the bat, but these mares get one shot a year – if they're lucky," Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey said. "Obviously, there are going to be some barren years. It just takes longer for [broodmare sires] to get established. A lot of these stallions, you won't see on the leading broodmare sire list, sometimes, until they're gone. It's a longer process."
Three-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief has been rapidly building his reputation as a sire of sires. He has a young leading son standing alongside him at Spendthrift Farm in Goldencents, as well as Practical Joke, who acquitted himself well in last year's freshman class, and talented sons coming along behind them such as Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, already a commercially popular young stallion.
However, as a broodmare sire, Into Mischief has, unsurprisingly, been slower to build his statistics. He has a chance to make a statement with his grandson White Abarrio in the Kentucky Derby.
White Abarrio's dam, Catching Diamonds, was foaled in 2015, and Spendthrift Farm purchased her as a yearling. She raced three times, with her final start coming in early 2018 before she was retired and bred to Race Day. The resulting foal was White Abarrio, winner of the Florida Derby to become Into Mischief's first Grade 1 winner as a broodmare sire.
"This was a filly we bought as a yearling and didn't pan out on the racetrack for us, but she's obviously getting it done in the breeding shed now," Toffey said.
Into Mischief entered stud in 2009, meaning his oldest daughters are 12 this year. Through April 29, he is the broodmare sire of 107 3-year-olds and up. Of those, 80 have started, and 55 are winners, with seven stakes winners. A trio of those stakes winners have been produced by one mare. Sittin At the Bar, from the stallion's first crop, is the dam of Grade 2 winner Cilla, Grade 2-placed stakes winner Club Car, and stakes-placed Jack the Umpire.
"You could see in the marketplace several years ago, people decided they wanted to go out and get Into Mischief mares," Toffey said. "I think he'll prove to be, on the bottom side as well as the top, a good source of speed and soundness."
White Abarrio gives Into Mischief a stake in this year's Derby after none of his 3-year-olds qualified for the race, following a strong run up the classic ranks for the sire. After siring 2020 Derby winner Authentic, the stallion's Mandaloun crossed the wire second to Medina Spirit in last year's Derby. With Mandaloun elevated to the victory with Medina Spirit's disqualification, Into Mischief is, officially, the only stallion ever to sire consecutive Derby winners.