Instagrand incredible in Best Pal S. (G2) romp

Into Mischief’s $1.2 sale-topping colt Instagrand chalked up his second straight double-digit length win in Saturday’s $250,000 Best Pal S. (G2) at Del Mar, rolling home by 10 1/4-length with Drayden Van Dyke never really asking the bay colt for his best.

In what was almost a repeat performance of his debut maiden win June 29 at Los Alamitos, when he won by 10, Instagrand was quick out of the gate once again in the Best Pal, rated nicely for Van Dyke around the turn, then accelerated powerfully to win under hand ride in 1:10.27 on the fast main track

“Very classy,” Van Dyke said on TVG afterward. “Got the mind of an older horse, and obviously really talented. I was loaded from the word go. I was just waiting for that quarter pole to come up to let him run.”

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was subdued, but already has the next race in mind for the nearly bald-faced bay powerhouse.

“He broke good even though he had been standing in there awhile,” Hollendorfer said of the gate, “then Drayden got this colt to relax and he did his thing. I think it is an improvement in that he did it so much easier. We’ll look at the (Del Mar) Futurity (G1, Sept. 3) for him, for sure.”

Instagrand is owned by OXO Equine, who was the winning bidder when the colt topped the Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-old Sale this March. Bred by Stoneway Farm, Instagrand comes from the same family as graded stakes winners Added Gold and Added Asset.

Instagrand is Into Mischief’s 14th black type winner and sixth graded stakes winner this year. With Sanford S. (G2) winner Sombeyay on the East Coast, he has the two highest-regarded 2-year-old males in training.