The late champion Bernardini was Sheikh Mohammed’s first winner of an American Triple Crown race, taking the 2006 Preakness Stakes under the Darley banner. The international outfit, which races as Godolphin while continuing to stand its stallions under the Darley brand name, has since completed a personal Triple Crown, winning the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality and, now, a long-sought Kentucky Derby with Sovereignty.
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty officially got on the work tab about a year ago and made his first start last August, but Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s association with the family goes back more than a quarter-century. He put the tack on great-granddam Sluice for her career debut in July 2000 and has since handled a few generations of this family.
“It’s really kind of a neat thing to be able to train those families and those generations of horses,” Mott said. “It might be telling my age a little bit, but it really makes it pretty special.”
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way with the Triple Crown and other major spring events, sires Into Mischief and Medaglia d’Oro exit the first weekend in May having already pulled off their own historic triples in the classics.
Microshare ownership groups have taken a huge turn in the spotlight in recent Triple Crown seasons, allowing racing fans to experience the thrill of major-event ownership for a nominal cost.
MyRacehorse had pieces of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic and 2024 Preakness winner Seize the Grey, while Commonwealth was part of the ownership team behind 2023 Derby winner Mage.
Vekoma claimed the 2024 freshman sire title in a photo finish. Now, his first-crop daughter Five G is bringing some of his connections back to the big stage.
New York-bred Five G was a game second in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes, then won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks to emphatically punch her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks. The filly, trained like her sire by George Weaver, races as a homebred for Gatsas Stables. Gatsas co-owned Vekoma with R.A. Hill Stable during his racing career.
Into Mischief has already firmly written himself into the history of the American stallion ranks, with his six consecutive sire titles the most in more than a half-century. Now, he is looking to write another chapter as the first stallion since the 1950s to sire three Kentucky Derby winners, which would tie him for the all-time record.
History says that a horse with a turf background or pedigree can run well on the Churchill Downs dirt, including in the Kentucky Derby. Animal Kingdom made his first start on dirt winning the 2011 Derby, and 2006 hero Barbaro had been a stakes winner on turf as a juvenile before moving to dirt. Big Brown (2008), Mine That Bird (2009), and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2015) also were early-career winners on turf or synthetic surfaces before moving to dirt.
Tiz the Law was a Grade 1 winner at age 2 who won a classic at 3. Those closest to him in his current career as a stallion say his progeny show similar progression, and that means exciting things could be in store for Tiztastic, who represents his sire’s first crop in the Kentucky Derby.
Tiztastic
Colt by Tiz the Law – Keesha, by Tapit
Bred in Kentucky by Capital Bloodstock ($80,000 Keeneland January short yearling purchase by McMahon and Hill Bloodstock, agent; $335,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by M.V. Magnier and Ron Winchell)
A lineup of Thoroughbreds competing this week in Kentucky represents stallions like classic sire Malibu Moon and stalwarts Flatter and Prized. They’ve been bred by prominent domestic and international entities like Betz Thoroughbreds, Machmer Hall, Nawara Stud, Poindexter Thoroughbreds, Sycamore Hall, and Patrice Wolfson.
But these Thoroughbreds won’t be squaring off in a graded stakes race at Keeneland or Churchill Downs. Rather, they’re set to compete in the Kentucky five-star and four-star three-day events from Thursday-Sunday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
