A year and a half after a last-to-first rally in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Keeneland, Godolphin's world traveler Mischief Magic reappears at the Lexington oval to race April 6 in the $350,000 Shakertown Stakes (G2T).
Racing 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, he battles an overflow field of grass sprinters, including Arzak and Beer Can Man, both last in action in the fall when sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Santa Anita Park.
Mischief Magic may have a fitness edge over those returning rivals, having kept a regular schedule this winter in the Middle East, where most recently he won the Feb. 2 Dubai Sprint at Meydan before finishing third in the Feb. 17 Dukhan Sprint (G3) at Doha in Qatar. Both races were on turf.
The Godolphin homebred 4-year-old son of Exceed And Excel is 6-0-2 in 13 starts and has earned the equivalent of $757,052. In addition to his Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint victory, he won the Sirenia Stakes (G3) at Kempton Park as a juvenile in 2022.
Tyler Gaffalione picks up the ride on Mischief Magic, the tepid 7-2 favorite on the morning line.
Mischief Magic is part of a group of seven horses trainer Charlie Appleby brought to Keeneland to race in stakes this spring. Last year, the trainer compiled an 8-4-5 record in 26 North American starts, always in graded company, capped by a triumph from Master of The Seas for Godolphin in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T).
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Sonata Stable's Arzak is second choice in the Shakertown at 4-1 and Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, and Sterling Stables' Beer Can Man is 8-1.
Like Mischief Magic, both have experience over the Keeneland turf course. The Mike Trombetta-trained Arzak, a 6-year-old Not This Time horse, won the Woodford Stakes (G2T) in October before the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, in which he crossed the wire two lengths behind victorious Nobals. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Arzak Saturday.
Beer Can Man also raced in the Woodford last year, finishing third, two lengths in arrears of Arzak. The Phil D'Amato trainee was then a half-length behind him when beaten 2 1/2 lengths in the Breeders' Cup.
The 7-year-old Can the Man gelding was fifth in one previous Keeneland start when he kicked off his campaign last year.
Flavien Prat, who won the 2023 Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Pimlico Race Course aboard Beer Can Man, returns in the irons.
The Shakertown further includes Hammer Time Stable and S.O.K. Racing's Coppola, a winner of two consecutive stakes races this year at Gulfstream Park in South Florida for trainer Dale Romans. The Into Mischief horse ran eighth in the 2023 Woodford in his one start over the Keeneland course.
Keeneland, Saturday, April 6, 2024, Race 9Entries: Shakertown S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Eamonn (KY) Paco Lopez 122 Joseph F. Orseno 15/1 2 2Sosua Summer (KY) Luis Saez 122 William I. Mott 12/1 3 3Mischief Magic (IRE) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Charles Appleby 7/2 4 4Beer Can Man (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Philip D'Amato 8/1 5 5Bad Beat Brian (KY) Christopher A. Emigh 122 Brittany A. Vanden Berg 20/1 6 6Arzak (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 124 Michael J. Trombetta 4/1 7 7Let My People Go (KY) Martin Garcia 122 Victoria H. Oliver 10/1 8 8Front Run the Fed (KY) Reylu Gutierrez 122 Caio Caramori 20/1 9 9Panther Island (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Laura Cazares 8/1 10 10Our Shot (PA) Javier Castellano 122 John P. Terranova, II 10/1 11 11Coppola (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 122 Dale L. Romans 6/1 12 12Yes I Am Free (FL) Junior Alvarado 122 Laura Cazares 12/1 13 13Mark of the Z (MI) Emmanuel Giles 122 Jose G. Rodriguez 20/1
