Distorted Humor

Having so often berated Europeans for neglecting Not This Time, I do see the irony in the odyssey of his son Six Speed. Last spring, this colt was one of few Not This Time foals to have been given conspicuous opportunity to plant his flag on European turf. As a yearling, he had been found at Keeneland by Mags O'Toole, showing the familiar acuity that exonerates her from charges of myopia that must be leveled at so many other bloodstock professionals over the water. He cost just $50,000, from breeder...

Throughout its history, WinStar Farm's stallion program has been anchored by raw speed, with champion Speightstown and fellow sprinting specialist Distorted Humor among some of the first sires to define the farm's identity. As WinStar wraps up its 25th anniversary this year, the blueprint is much the same. Patch Adams, Mullikin and Straight No Chaser are the latest Grade I-winning sprinters set to join the roster. Two of the recruits carry the direct influence of the aforementioned cornerstone sires and the third is out of a mare by Congrats, another...

When Practical Joke and Life Is Good--both by Into Mischief and out of Distorted Humor mares--each racked up multiple Grade I victories and retired to major stallion farms in Central Kentucky, the cross they share surely earned a second look. After three 3-year-olds of 2025--Eclipse champion Citizen Bull, Patch Adams, and Tappan Street--added another five combined Grade I victories to that same cross in the last 11 months, anyone savvy enough to have a yearling on offer at Keeneland's September sale on the 'Midas Touch' nick looks positively inspired. Three...

'TDN Rising Star' Patch Adams (Into Mischief) made it two straight top-level victories sprinting at the Spa with a game performance in Saturday's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. The rail-drawn, 5-2 favorite secured a fantastic pocket trip on the inside in third beneath Luis Saez behind the two-for-two 'Rising Star' Midland Money (Shancelot) and 'Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) through an opening quarter in :22.38. Back a spot into fourth through a half mile in :44.52, Patch Adams shot through an opening along the fence as they straightened...

He has a name as American as apple pie. How fitting then that Constitution has had a big week (and month) leading up to the Independence Day holiday. The WinStar Farm stallion's 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe won his second Grade I of the year--one of just five horses to do so--in Saturday's GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs over a star-studded field while notching a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Less than 24 hours later, Constitution's Pin Up Betty added the Anchorage Overnight Stakes in Louisville after also winning the...

First and foremost, let's salute Journalism (Curlin) and his connections for confirming that only feebleness in horsemen, not horses, menaces the Triple Crown schedule. In last weekend replicating his Churchill challenge to crop leader Sovereignty (Into Mischief), moreover actually moving up his numbers, the only horse to contest all three legs demonstrated precisely the prowess that breeders have long sought from this series. That deserves to be remembered once Journalism goes to stud. Obviously, the GI Belmont Stakes is not asking quite so exacting a question just now. By the...

13th-Churchill Downs, $127,847, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($125,000), 5-3, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.69, sy, 2 1/4 lengths. PATCH ADAMS (c, 3, Into Mischief--Well Humored {SW}, by Distorted Humor), who always has been marked by the betting public as the chalk, earned a 'TDN Rising Star' badge at second asking when the colt won by 10 1/2 lengths and posted a 98 Beyer under the Twin Spires at the end of November. The Triple Crown nominee just missed hitting the board in the GIII Southwest Stakes Jan. 25 and ran a well-beaten...

In racing, the advent of spring doesn't just mean delightful weather and foals capering through fields. It also means a multiplication of the number of graded events across the nation. The month of March boasted more graded races in the U.S. than January and February combined. With GI Kentucky Derby and Oaks preps in full swing, top older campaigners returning from winter breaks, and 2-year-old racing just around the corner, it's an exciting time in the sport. We took a look at trends and notable items from the country's graded...

Maybe starting my Breeding Digest on Monday mornings is not such a good plan. The dust may by then be settling on the racing weekend, but by the look of it, perhaps I need a little longer to recover from my own, somewhat less wholesome exertions! How else do I account for failing to include the principal guarantor of Distorted Humor's male line, Maclean's Music, alongside my reflections on his burgeoning legacy as a broodmare sire? Maclean's Music has three young sons at stud in Kentucky, in Jackie's Warrior, Drain...

A week after we saluted the impact of his daughters on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, suddenly Tapit might also have found a colt to redress the one glaring omission on his resume. At the same time, the emergence of Sandman also contributes to a remarkable reciprocation by a still more venerable distaff influence. Tapit mares having produced American Promise, Tiztastic and Final Gambit across consecutive weekends, Distorted Humor is plainly not to be outdone. Both the big winners last Saturday were out of daughters of the WinStar legend; moreover...

Cornucopian (c, 3, Into Mischief--Magical World, by Distorted Humor) left his backers in little doubt on this unveiling, running his competition off their feet and on to 'TDN Rising Stardom'. Away quickly from the gates, the son of the venerable Into Mischief flashed good early foot as the 3-5 favorite and sailed along through :21.86 and :45.50 splits while 34-1 longshot Oil Capital (Maclean's Music) tried to make a race of it. Hounded relentlessly by that one going into the bend, he was well in control coming into the home...

Whether you consider it just a random squeaking of the hamster wheel, or evidence of some latent order awaiting our discovery, these Thoroughbreds certainly know how to make us stop and think about the strange operation of life. Last Friday it was announced that Miss Macy Sue (Trippi) had died at 22. The very next day, her son Liam's Map produced a Derby contender in GIII Holy Bull Stakes winner Burnham Square. The 20 starting points banked there, moreover, matched those earned two weeks previously in the GIII Lecomte Stakes...