Mullikin

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...

DEL MAR, Calif. - Bentornato (Valiant Minister) avenged his too-good-to-lose second at last year's Championships with a powerful, front-running performance in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar. Imagination (Into Mischief) just held off Dr. Venkman (Ghostzapper) for second. Last year's Sprint winner Straight No Chaser (Speightster) tired to seventh. The 8-5 favorite provided back-to-back Breeders' Cup winners for trainer Jose D'Angelo and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who also teamed up for a popular win with 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shisospicy (Mitole) one race earlier on the...

by Steve Sherack & J.N. Campbell DEL MAR, Calif. - A stallion share (2% interest) in leading young sire Not This Time brought $3 million from John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa to top the Keeneland Championship Sale held in the Del Mar paddock Wednesday evening. The share was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Aaron and Marie Jones, as Hip 3. In a unique feature of the offering, the buyer receives all income from Not This Time's 2025 breeding season. Not This Time is already the...

DEL MAR, CA - As Breeders' Cup hopefuls continue their final preparations in the early morning hours for racing on Friday and Saturday, the Del Mar paddock will transform into an auction ring for the second annual Keeneland Championship Sale on Wednesday evening. Last year, a share in Horse of the Year Flightline (by Tapit) was the headliner when it went for $2.5-million. Once again looking to create a high-energy atmosphere, Keeneland has put together a robust slate of offerings, which include fractional interests in three racehorses currently in-training--two are...

Future WinStar stallion Mullikin (Violence) put in his final local prep Friday ahead of next weekend's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Working solo at Keeneland, he breezed immediately following the first track harrowing at 7:30 a.m. and clocked four furlongs in :48.40 (6/65). "We were not looking for anything too fancy," trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. "We did all the bottom work the last three weeks. He showed good energy and the rider was very happy with him. We got what we need." It was his final work in Kentucky as Brisset...

A 25% ownership interest in GI Breeders' Cup Sprint contender and future WinStar stallion Mullikin (Violence) has been supplemented to the Keeneland Championship Sale held at Del Mar Oct. 29, the company announced Tuesday. Mullikin will return to Del Mar to contest the Sprint having run third as the favorite in the same race last year. The interest is offered as property of WinStar Farm. "Our participation in the Keeneland Championship Sale with our Breeders' Cup Sprint entrant, Mullikin, is an opportunity to run for $2 million in 72 hours...

Grade I winner Mullikin (Violence--Tulira's Star, by Congrats), slated to make his final career start in this year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar, will stand the 2026 breeding season at WinStar Farm, the operation announced Tuesday. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup. Mullikin will participate in WinStar's Dream Big Program, which offers breeders the opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right. "Mullikin has competed at the highest level for the last two years and is a gorgeous looking horse from a world-class sire line...

WinStar Farm's David Hanley has been named 2025 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC). The award honors individuals 'who exemplify excellence in farm management and service to the community." Appointed to the role of farm manager at WinStar in 2013, Hanley has played a key role in the farm's acquisition of new fewer than 11 Grade I winners who have amassed a total of 23 elite-level victories, including Justify, Life Is Good, Improbable, Mullikin and Patch Adams. "I am honored and...

There really isn't a whole lot that trainer Bill Mott has left to accomplish in the Thoroughbred business. Since recording his first graded stakes victory with Heatherten--who also gave him his first Grade I success--for owner John Franks some 41 years ago, the 72-year-old has saddled the winners of over 150 top-level contests with superstars of either sex, such as Taylor's Special, Theatrical (Ire), Paradise Creek, Fraise, legendary dual Horse of the Year Cigar, Ajina, Escena, Wekiva Springs, Favorite Trick, Dream Supreme and her son Majestic Warrior, Drosselmeyer, To Honor...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. - A year ago, Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) buzzed through her season, winning six of seven starts--five of them Grade Is--on her way to Horse of the Year honors. Kenny McPeek, Thorpedo Anna's trainer, says his stable star is just as good, if not better, than she was a year ago. The 4-year-old filly, still as popular as ever, will get the chance to prove it on Saturday when she runs in the GI, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. "Every bit," McPeek said...

Mystik Dan (Goldencents), the 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner, breezed on the grass for the first time in his career Friday morning, going an easy five furlongs in 1:02 flat over the Oklahoma course with Luis Rivera, Jr. in the saddle. "Really pleased," trainer Ken McPeek said at his Saratoga barn. "I always wanted to try him on the turf, and he looked like he loved it. We're contemplating some options and this is a horse that's done everything we've ever asked him to do. I think he'll relish it;...

Saratoga's GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, downgraded for 2025, featured a rematch of the June 7 GIII True North Stakes between Book'em Danno (g, 4, Bucchero--Adorabella, by Ghostzapper) and Mullikin (Violence), who finished one-two last month over this surface, and Nakatomi (Firing Line), who had been fifth. All three showed up in a big way Saturday to fill out the trifecta with fan-favorite Book'em Danno on top once again. Book'em Danno's biggest career win (the 2024 GI Woody Stephens Stakes), his biggest career Beyer (the 104 he registered when third...