There were no sizzling workout times May 15 when the under tack show in preparation for next week's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale got underway.
But one Into Mischief filly set herself apart from the rest, breezing a quarter-mile in :21 3/5, the fastest time on a hot, humid morning at the Maryland State Fairgrounds near Timonium, Md., where the May 21-22 sale will take place.
Consigned by Brick City Thoroughbreds as Hip 62, the filly was purchased by Global Thoroughbreds for $125,000 from Kentucky breeder Martha Jane Mulholldand's Mulholland Springs at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale. She is out of the winning Empire Maker mare Alert Cat, and her third dam's produce includes four-time grade 1 winner and sire Fly Till Dawn.
"We just love the sire Into Mischief, and she had a long body," said Brick City Thoroughbreds' J. R. Boyd, crediting Global Thoroughbreds' team with selecting the filly as a yearling. "They pick out their own horses and I just tell them 'yes' or 'no' on a majority of them. We really liked her and had targeted her and had seen her on the farm before the sale.
"We knew she was going to be within one tick of the fastest breezes today, and so we were very excited, but we were nervous when all the times were slower early on."
On a day in which the track was playing slower than it has in the past, seven juveniles shared the fastest eighth-mile time of :10 1/5.
While the breeze times Tuesday would not generate headlines, there was a consensus that the track was consistent and fair throughout the day.
"I would think the track would be two ticks off from last year," Boyd said, comparing his Midlantic group from last year with this year's based on works at the farm or training center with those at Fasig-Tipton.
"The track seems like it's got quite a bit more cushion than it normally does and I think the times reflect it," consignor Clovis Crane said. "And I think the horses will come back a little bit better. It is obvious they have different sand than they've had in the past. It's got more clay in it, a little more bounce to it. It seems they've gotten the track a little more conducive to soundness. Hopefully the horses will come back a little sounder. That's what I'm hoping for."
During the five-hour session, four horses ran off their riders. In one incident, Ali Rice of RiceHorse stables was injured after she came off the horse when the 2-year-old decided to abort its workout and headed through the gap used by horses to enter the track.
As Rice came off the horse, she hit the open metal gate and was later diagnosed with a broken left wrist. An employee at the barn said tests were being conducted at a local hospital to determine if surgery would be required.
The under tack show continues through May 17, with daily sessions beginning at 8 a.m. EDT.