Owendale makes huge move in Lexington S. (G3) victory

Into Mischief has yet another exciting 3-year-old colt on his resume after Owendale’s eye-catching score in Saturday’s $200,000 Lexington S. (G3) at Keeneland.

After a sub-par performance in the Feb. 16 Risen Star S. (G2) at Fair Grounds, Owendale’s trainer Brad Cox gave the colt a series of strong works, including two bullet moves, in preparation for the Lexington. After breaking out of the gate in no hurry, he was four-wide on the first turn and had one horse beat after a half-mile in :48.23.

Mid-way on the final turn, Owendale and Florent Geroux kicked into high gear, rolling past horses rapidly to take the lead at the top of the stretch. Running strong to the finish, the winner crossed the wire 1 ¾-lengths ahead of Anothertwistafate in 1:44.14 for the 1 1/16-miles on the fast main track.

“I think he’s just maturing and turning into a good horse,” said Cox’s assistant trainer Ricky Giannini. “He’s always trained like it and today he put it all together and got the job done.”

The victory earned Owendale 20 points towards a starting spot in the May 4^th Kentucky Derby (G1), but his connections were non-committal on the colt’s next race.

Owendale upped his earnings to $187,225 and record to 3-1-1 from eight starts for Rupp Racing. Owendale was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdingsom and is out of Aspen Light, a sister to Breeders’ Futurity (G1) winner Great Hunter.

Into Mischief’s progeny have already topped $4 million in earnings this year, one of only three active stallions in North America to achieve that milestone.