First-crop sires: Winners keep coming for Maximus Mischief

TwinSpires.com will follow prominent first-crop sires whose two-year-olds are hitting the track this season. This installment is the fifth on 2018 Remsen (G2) winner Maximus Mischief.

The battle for the title of 2023 leading first-crop sire remains fierce. As of the morning of Nov. 29, four stallions are separated by less than $200,000 in progeny earnings according to the first-crop sire rankings compiled by Bloodhorse.com.

Sitting in third place, roughly $130,000 behind leader Mitole, is Maximus Mischief. After leading the rankings for much of summer and early fall, the son of four-time leading North American sire Into Mischief has slipped a bit as far as progeny earnings are concerned. But he remains the leader when ranked by number of winning foals (29, compared to 27 for Mitole) and is the co-leader by number of black-type stakes winners (three, tied with Flameaway).

Carmelina strikes at the stakes level

Maximus Mischief picked up his third black-type stakes winner on Nov. 22 when Carmelina stormed to a runaway victory in the $100,000 Shamrock Rose S. at Penn National.

Carmelina has been a force to reckon with since winning her debut back in June. During the summer she took the Keswick S. at Colonial Downs, a non-black-type stakes nevertheless worth $105,500.

Carmelina’s Keswick triumph came by half a length, a hard-fought win quite unlike her demolition of the Shamrock Rose. At Penn National, Carmelina broke on top from the rail and never gave her rivals a chance to catch up, widening her advantage at every call to win by 8 3/4 lengths in the respectable time of 1:10.09 for six furlongs. She now boasts a 5-3-0-0 record with earnings of $161,800, representing a significant chunk of Maximus Mischief’s overall progeny earnings of $1,896,855.

Maximus Meridius, Shake It Baby visit the winner’s circle

Maximus Mischief picked up a debut winner when his son Maximus Meridius obliterated a six-furlong maiden special weight at Parx Racing last Monday. After recovering from a slow start to press fractions of :22.37 and :46.43, the bay colt took over and powered clear in the homestretch to win by 10 1/2 lengths in 1:12.80. A foray into stakes competition could certainly follow this impressive debut.

Two days earlier at Laurel Park, Shake It Baby picked up her third win from six starts (and her second straight win) when dominating a $40,000-$32,000 claimer. The bay filly settled a couple of lengths behind splits of :23.11 and :47.49 before taking command in the final furlong to draw off and win the six-furlong dash by 4 3/4 lengths in 1:13.32.

Wee Bit O Mischief, Madness pick up allowance placings

It’s safe to say Wee Bit O Mischief has stepped up her game this fall. After losing her first four starts, she graduated in a one-mile maiden special weight on Oct. 30 at Horseshoe Indianapolis, after which she outran all expectations to finish third in a $100,000 allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs last Saturday.

Wee Bit O Mischief was dismissed as a 64-1 longshot in the one-mile contest on Churchill’s “Stars of Tomorrow II” program, but after trailing the field by as many as a dozen lengths, she rallied steadily to finish third by 5 3/4 lengths in an encouraging performance.

Madness also picked up a placing against quality competition, finishing third in a $75,000 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park last Friday. Starting as the fourth choice among six runners in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint, Madness settled 3 1/2 lengths behind splits of :22.53 and :46.27 before passing a couple of tiring rivals to finish 3 3/4 lengths behind the winner. It was a decent follow-up to her debut victory against maiden special weight competition at Gulfstream Park.

Glengarry joins Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2

Maximus Mischief’s most accomplished runner is the undefeated two-time stakes winner Glengarry, who battled to a tenacious triumph in the six-furlong Bowman Mill S. at Keeneland last month. Glengarry was one of 38 individual horses available to bet in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2, and horseplayers who backed the gray colt to win the 2024 Run for the Roses caught an enticing price of 146-1 when the pool closed last Sunday.

Maximus Mischief himself was available to bet in the concurrent Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, closing at odds of 89-1 among 39 individual sires.