Practical Joke now a 3-time Grade 1 winner

Into Mischief’s leading 3-year-old colt Practical Joke earned his first Grade 1 win of the current year Saturday at Saratoga with a 1 1/4-length win in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens S. (G1), which was formerly named the King’s Bishop S.

Practical Joke is one Into Mischief’s 17 black-type horses and nine black-type winners. With 80 winners and more than $5 million in progeny earnings to date, Into Mischief is the leading sire of 3-year-olds in the world.

Breaking from the inside post in the field of nine, Practical Joke settled about a half-dozen lengths off the lead as the group of 3-year-olds made their way down the backstretch. After a half-mile in :45.05, Practical Joke began to make up ground along the inside. In full gear in the stretch, Joel Rosario swung his mount out and around Takaful in mid-stretch, going on to get the seven furlongs in 1:21.96 on a fast main track.

“His best races are around one turn and he always tries hard,” Rosario commented. “He’s a very good horse. He showed that today. I had a great trip. I was just watching for traffic and waiting for the right time to make my move moving forward. Around the turn he just started picking up horses like the great horses he is. I was able to ride him with a lot of confidence the whole time.”

“Looking at the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1, at Del Mar), it’s a tricky race because it’s around two turns,” said trainer Chad Brown about Practical Joke’s year-end goal. “He’s undefeated on one turn, but the mile distance seems perfect for him, so if I had to guess right now, that’s where we’ll end up. But I’ll talk to the owners about it, enjoy this and of course observe the horse.”

Practical Joke is also undefeated at Saratoga in three starts. He began his career last Aug. 6 with a five-length maiden win, then came back a month later to win the Hopeful S. (G1). Since then, he won the Champagne (G1) and placed in five other graded stakes. With the Jerkens win, he is now 5-2-2 in 10 starts and has earned $1,670,800 for Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence.