Mystik Dan

Six Speed (Not This Time), coming off a runner-up effort in the Mar. 28 G2 UAE Derby, tuned up for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby with a four-furlong drill in :48.80 (12/24) Monday at Churchill Downs. With exercise rider Declan Cannon in the irons, the colt covered his opening furlong in :13.20, reached the quarter-mile in :25 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:01.60. "We're not going to change too much in the Derby," trainer Bhupat Seemar said. "He's a horse that likes to be up there. If they go fast,...

Veteran jockey agent Tony Martin has returned from a brief retirement to represent apprentice Jamison Mudd, currently based at Fair Grounds. "I've seen some good ones come, and some good ones go," Martin said. "I think this kid has got a lot of talent." Martin represented Joe Talamo, who captured the Fair Grounds riding title at the 2006-2007 meet and later earned the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey. "I've been watching [Mudd] since the first weekend he rode at Louisiana Downs and I liked what I saw," Martin said....

As usual, we start our annual quest for value among Bluegrass sires by treating the rookies as a case apart. From here we'll work our way through fee tiers of those already at stud, starting with four-figure bargains and working our way up to the big guns. In this notoriously unpredictable environment, there's one certainty on which you can hang your hat. Almost all the horses we examine today are about to cover the biggest and best books of their careers--though charging a fee that few will ever command again....

Liberty National (Maxfield), named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' following an impressive maiden victory on the Stars of Tomorrow II program at Churchill Downs Nov. 29, could make his next start in the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds Dec. 20. A well-beaten sixth on debut for trainer Ken McPeek in a live maiden special weight at Keeneland Oct. 16, the Brookdale Racing, Inc. and Fern Circle Stables colorbearer took to two turns with aplomb at second asking with a 4 1/4-length, come-from-behind decision beneath the Twin...

There's a certain buzz that comes with welcoming a Kentucky Derby winner to a stallion roster. Bret Jones knows the feeling from when Mage retired to Airdrie Stud in 2024. This year, they're repeating the milestone with Mystik Dan (Goldencents), who arrived at the Midway, Kentucky farm three weeks ago. "We've been totally busy since we announced that we were showing him," said Jones. "Everybody wants to see a Kentucky Derby winner. Breeders are coming away impressed with not only how well he handles everything, but with what a beautifully...

Kentucky Derby 150 winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) has officially been retired to stud, trainer Ken McPeek announced Friday. But fans will have one final chance to see the colt beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday when he parades in the paddock for the fourth race from approximately 2:05-2:30 p.m. EST. Owned by Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III and Valley View Farm, Mystik Dan will stand at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., for $15,000. The 4-year-old retires with a record of 16-5-3-1 and earnings of more than $4.8...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will not take part in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The news was announced Saturday morning on social media by David Grening. Trainer Ken McPeek told Grening that "the reason they said was [he] responds to flexion left ankle." This is the second scratch from the McPeek barn in as many days with 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Blackout Time (Not This Time) scratching Friday from the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Mystik Dan will retire to Airdrie Stud for the 2026...

DEL MAR, Calif. -- Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the imposing 6-5 morning line favorite for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, has spiked a fever and "there's a possibility that he won't make the race on Saturday," according to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. "He had a slightly elevated temperature and that remained through the night," Mott said to a group of media assembled on the Del Mar backstretch during training hours Tuesday morning. "This morning at 5 a.m. and when we got here at 5:30 a.m., he...

The Week In Review 1) Not only will this year's Breeders' Cup championships feature the 1-2-3 finishers from each of the 2024 and 2025 GI Kentucky Derbies, but the two champion 2-year-old males who each won the GI Juvenile in the past two seasons will also be in action. Sovereignty (Into Mischief), Journalism (Curlin) and Baeza (McKinzie) all finished within 1 ¾ lengths of each other in the Derby six months ago, and will all hook up in Saturday's GI Classic. Mystik Dan (Goldencents), 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun...

Last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents--Ma'am, by Colonel John), who is expected to start next in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will begin his stud career next year at Airdrie Stud at an introductory fee of $15,000. In addition to the 2024 Derby, Mystik Dan also won this year's GII Lukas Classic Stakes and GIII Blame Stakes. He was runner-up in last year's GI Preakness Stakes and third in the GI Arkansas Derby, and heads to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as one of...

The weekend stakes featured plenty of outcomes with Breeders' Cup implications. But while top-level races in California, Kentucky and New York yielded headline horses bound for the big Saturday of championship weekend, an ungraded $125,000 grass route for 2-year-old fillies in Maryland produced one of the more intriguing, under-the-radar candidates for Future Stars Friday. Ultimate Love is now 3-for-3 after her stylish, four-length, going-away score in the Selima Stakes at Laurel Park, and the chestnut daughter of Curlin could be bound for the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf. A homebred from...

Just like he did beneath the Twin Spires on the first Saturday in May in 2024, GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) shot up the rail once again to a dramatic victory in Saturday's GII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs. With jockey Francisco Arrieta subbing for the sidelined Brian Hernandez, Jr., Mystik Dan raced in an inside fourth through an opening quarter in :23.45. Awaiting racing room on the far turn as 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner) made a bold sweep for the lead, Mystik Dan finally found...