Into Mischief’s latest black type winner takes Hutcheson S.

Provocateur surged past Nitrous Channel at the top of the Gulfstream Park stretch on his way to a two-length win in Saturday’s $100,000 Hutcheson S.

The 3-year-old colt, owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm LLC, is the eighth stakes winner this year for Into Mischief, which leads all North American sires.

Provocateur was coming into the Hutcheson off a close second in the Pasco S. two months ago at Tampa Bay Downs. He broke very swiftly, then settled back off the pace set by longshot Golden Juan. Midway on the turn, Golden Juan began to fade, and Nitrous Channel and a three-wide Provocateur went for the lead. After a brief tussle, Provocateur shrugged off his foe and pulled away all the way to the wire, getting the six furlongs in 1:09.60 on a fast track.

“We were a little confused about what he wanted to do early on (prior to his grass debut in October). He wasn’t training as promisingly as we had hoped. We thought he would improve a little bit on the grass,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “After that experience he seemed to improve in his dirt training and recently has really come around.”

Saturday’s win improved Provocateur’s record to 2-1-0 in five starts and his earnings to $92,205. Bred by Kingswood Farm and David Egan, Provocateur is out of Cayala, who has produced three other foals by Into Mischief, including 2017 Southwest S. (G3) winner One Liner. She is expecting a foal by Spendthrift stallion Authentic this year.