WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018 BY WAY OF PHILLY, STRONG TRADE CONTINUES AT FASIG- TIPTON OCTOBER by Jessica Martini MAXIMUS MISCHIEF ONE LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearlings Sale continued with another businesslike day of selling in Lexington TO WATCH ON DERBY TRAIL Tuesday. With a pair of colts by American Pharoah leading the way, a total of 256 yearlings grossed $9,068,000 for an average of $35,422 and a median of $15,000. Through two sessions of the four-day auction, 479 head have sold for $16,585,000. The average of $34,624 is up 8.6% from the first two sessions of 2017 and the median of $15,000 surged 36.4% from a year ago. AIt was another solid day of sales in day two,@ Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said at the close of business Tuesday. AToday certainly had a very good feel to it. There was solid activity from start to finish, with some expensive horses early and some expensive horses late. So it was a very solid session and it was very consistent throughout the day.@ Cont. p5 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY AMERICAN ACTION AIDS ARQANA OPENER George Bolton through agent Kerri Radcliffe bought the top lot at Arqana October on Tuesday, shelling out €360,000 for a Maximus Mischief | Equi-Photo daughter of Siyouni (Fr). Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. by Bill Finley It=s a blue-collar racetrack where tough horses grind away for good purses, their owners and trainers normally content to let the people in places like Saratoga, Arcadia and Lexington have all the glory that comes with owning a star. But at Parx, every once in a while there is an outlier, a horse fast enough to be successful at the highest level. No one proved that better than Smarty Jones, the winner off the 2004 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. At Parx, Smarty Jones has all but been placed in a pantheon, but he may soon have some company. It is obviously way to early get started on the Hall of Fame plaque for the Parx-based 2-year-old named Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief), but he has been so dominant and run so fast in his first two career starts that there=s every reason to believe the >TDN Rising Star= is going to prove to be one of the best 3-year-olds in the country next year. ASuffice to say we=re extremely excited to have a young horse here who obviously has ability on a national scale,@ said Parx=s announcer Keith Jones, who also called the debut of Smarty Jones. Cont. p3 Mor 2YO SPEED G1 Los Al Futurity Winner Mor MILER SPEED G1 Met Mile Winner Mor HISTORIC SPEED 117 Beyer – Fastest Horse Ever From The Giant’s Causeway Line SEE MOR Mor Spirit Eskendereya – Im a Dixie Girl, by Dixie Union THE BREEDERS’ FARM spendthriftfarm.com NEW FOR 2019 859.294.0030 $10,000 S&N PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Skeleton crew. Katie Miranda and Sarah Sharp entertain a ghoulish guest at the Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Summerfield Sales consignment on Tuesday during the Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearling Sale. Sale coverage continues on page 5. | Fasig-Tipton Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] BREEDERS’ CUP BULLETIN: OCT. 23 Marketing Manager 12 Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Five Breeders’ Cup contenders worked in Kentucky Tuesday ahead of their respective starts at the upcoming World Championships Director of Information Technology Ray Villa [email protected] GOOD SAMARITAN RETIRED 12 Bookkeeper MGSW Good Samaritan (Harlan’s Holiday) has been retired from Terry May racing and will take up stud duty at WinStar Farm. [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION TODAY’S GRADED STAKES International Editor EST Race Click for TV Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] 7:10a Prix des Reservoirs-G3, DEA -------------- ----- European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 14 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 24, 2018 Maximus Mischief cont. from p1 him,@ said Zacney, best known as the owner of the Delaware Jones continued, AWe=re cautiously optimistic that maybe Park-based Afleet Alex, winner of the Preakness and GI Belmont lightning does strike twice. What he has S. in 2005. AHe really has been special from displayed already in the first two races makes day one and worked that way. But there was me think he=s as good a 2-year-old as we=ve no sense of urgency. I think maybe I=ve gotten seen around here since Smarty Jones. I know a little smarter over the years. I want to have a lot can go wrong between now and the first a really good 3-year-old and that=s more Saturday in May, but he certainly looks the important than having a good 2-year-old. Our part. I don=t think there=s any question about goal, really, is the races next year and not the that.@ races this year.@ Considering his sire and what he cost at the Zacney said he fielded numerous phone sales, Maximus Mischief didn=t exactly sneak calls from agents after Maximus Mischief=s up on anyone. Maximus Mischief went for debut looking to purchase all of the horse or a $340,000 at this year=s Fasig Tipton percentage of him. He said the largest offer Midatlantic 2-Year-Old Sale at Timonium. was for $750,000, but he told that person and Primary owner Chuck Zacney turned the everyone else that called that his horse was horse over to top Parx trainer Butch Reid and not for sale. gave him instructions to take things slowly After that impressive of a debut, many with the colt. horses would have gone right into stakes He did not debut until Sept. 20, winning a company, but Zacney and Reid instead opted Parx maiden race by 8 3/4 lengths with Zacney celebrates Afleet Alex=s 2005 for an allowance race last Saturday at Parx. Frankie Pennington aboard. Preakness win | Getty Images Though, after scratches, there were only AYou have to listen to the horse a and he=ll tell you where and three horses in the race, Maximus Mischief did more than when he=s ready to run, and we have really taken our time with enough to enhance his reputation. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 14 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 24, 2018 Maximus Mischief cont. He won the seven-furlong race by six lengths and was awarded a Beyer Speed Figure of 98, the highest number run by any 2-year-old so far this year. AThis has been terrific,@ Zacney said. AYou always dream of having a horse like this. Afleet Alex was in 2004, 2005 and here it is 13, 14 years later. I=ve learned since then how difficult it is to get a special horse. Now that we=re going in the right direction, I decided I=m going to enjoy every moment.@ Zacney and Reid both know that the time has come to give Maximus Mischief a real test, and they have picked out the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct Dec. 1 to do so. Reid doesn=t think the jump from seven to nine furlongs will be any problem for his horse. AThe best thing about him is his head,@ Reid said. AThe talent is all there and physically it=s all there. He=s a big strong horse. What I like about him best is he has a great head on his shoulders. That=s why I don=t think any distance will be too much for him. He will relax. Frankie [Pennington] really had him relaxed on a long hold the other day and when he turns for home he responds. He does it in the morning and he does it in the afternoon. He knows where the real running starts. That=s the attribute I like best about him.@ Should Maximus Mischief prove up to the challenge in the Remsen, the plan will be to take him to Florida and take the Gulfstream route to the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Reid is as consistent a trainer as there is at Parx and his barn tends to have better horses than the average stable at the Bensalem, Pennsylvania, track, but this could turn out to be his first chance with a serious Kentucky Derby candidate. To date, his biggest wins have come in the 2012 GI Alfred Vanderbilt H. with Poseidon=s Warrior (Speightstown) and with Afleet Again (Afleet Alex) in the GII Breeders= Cup Marathon in 2011. He says he=s ready for the challenge, even if that includes the inevitable comparisons to Smarty Jones. ATalking to people at the track about him and with how impressive this horse has been, yes, you hear comparisons to Smarty Jones,@ Reid said.