One Liner tops in $500,000 Southwest S. (G3)

Into Mischief’s 3-year-old son One Liner came to Oaklawn Park for his first stakes outing in the $500,000 Southwest S., and the colt thrust himself squarely into the 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) discussion with a 3 1/2-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile contest.

Owned by WinStar Farm in partnership with China Horse Club and SF Racing LLC, One Liner had won his maiden debut at Saratoga last summer, then was away from the races until returning with a Gulfstream Park allowance on Jan. 26. Monday’s win upped his earnings to $373,800.

Despite breaking from post 10 in the field of 12, One Liner got away cleanly and established a good spot in fourth for the run down the backstretch. Uncontested carved out the first half-mile in :46.55, with One Liner in third just behind Petrov.

Around the turn, Petrov got the jump and passed Uncontested, with One Liner doing the same entering the stretch. One Liner set his sights on the new leader, passing him with a furlong to run, then drawing off in deep stretch to stop the timer in 1:41.85 on a fast track.

“He had shown a lot in his training before he even debuted at Saratoga, so we weren’t surprised that he won at first asking,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He came back very good and has been training good, so we were confident in him. At this point I’d say everything is in play (for his next race). We’ll discuss it with the connections. We still have time for two more races (before the Kentucky Derby) if that’s the path he continues on.”

One Liner also picked up his first ten points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Challenge Series. The winner is the first foal out of Cayala and is from the same family as Champagne S. (G1) winner Daredevil.

One Liner, bred by Kingswood Farm, sold for $150,000 at the 2015 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages sale. He is Into Mischief’s sixth stakes horse of 2017; with 25 winners and over $1 million in progeny earnings to date, Into Mischief ranks in top 10 on the General Sire list.