INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Dec. 22, 2007) - Into Mischief, upset as the betting choice one start earlier, seized the lead from pacesetter Eaton's Gift early in the stretch under Victor Espinoza and finished strongly to hold off favorite Colonel John by 1 1/4 lengths in Saturday's $753,000 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park.
Espinoza, riding with confidence, completed a sweep of the closing-day stakes as Into Mischief covered 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track in 1:40.82 to garner the winning share of $403,000 with his second win in three starts.
Into Mischief, owned by B. Wayne Hughes and trained by Richard Mandella, established himself as a leading contender for the 2008 Triple Crown races with the win in the Grade I Futurity, a race which has produced six Kentucky Derby winners since its inauguration in 1981.
"He was real strong at the end and was waiting for horses," Espinoza said. "I just hit him a couple of times to keep his attention focused. It was very impressive for him to run like this today. This horse is going to have a really unbelievable future."
Into Mischief, a son of Harlan's Holiday, scored an impressive 2 ½-length victory at 6 1/2 furlongs in his career debut Oct. 21 at Santa Anita. He then finished 1 ¾ lengths behind third-place Futurity finisher Massive Drama in the seven-furlong Hollywood Prevue here on Nov. 22.
"He ran really good in his first race, a little green, but the raw talent was obvious," said Mandella, who also saddled 1994 Futurity winner Afternoon Deelites. "In his second start he got a little excitable and had a bit of the jitters going into the gate. He left there like he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do, most of his greenness came in that second race. He made it all up today. I thought it was better to post on the outside because I wasn't going to take him back. After his last race we kind of left there sitting still and I think it discouraged him a little bit; he was too young and anxious. I told Victor to let him run on out of there then just do what you want, and for right now that's better. Hopefully he will get smarter as we go. I'm going to enjoy this today and not worry about where he will be going."
Into Mischief, who boosted his earnings to $448,800, paid $29.60, $11 and $8.40 as the sixth choice in the field of 12. Colonel John, the public choice after an impressive win here in the Real Quiet Stakes, paid $4 and $3.60. Massive Drama, another half-length back in third, returned $4.60.
Monba finished fourth, followed by Indian Sun, Sierra Sunset, Eaton's Gift, Meal Penalty, Overextended, Shore Do, Referee and Tres Borrachos. Slew's Tiznow and Old Man Buck were scratched.
"We wanted to be patient with him," jockey Corey Nakatani said of the runner-up. "Today wasn't the day to go to the bottom of the well. He's only going to get better. He's a young horse and keeps on improving by stepping up like he did today. He probably took the worst of it by getting all the dirt and the education that he did and he galloped out unbelievable. I wouldn't change spots with anybody. He's a special horse."
Jockey Kent Desormeaux also envisioned better things ahead for Massive Drama.
"We have to regroup and see if we can change the outcome next time," he said. It's unfortunate, but it was a $750,000 schooling race."
In the co-featured On Trust Handicap, Espinoza guided odds-on favorite Greg's Gold to a 1 ¾-length victory over Big Bad Leroybrown in Cushion Track record time of 1:26.78 for 7 ½ furlongs.
Rafael Bejarano also enjoyed a banner closing day, riding three winners on the card.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer saddled third-race winner Gold Trim and 11th race winner Political High to become just the third trainer to reach the 5,000-win mark.
