Into Mischief trio set for Kentucky Derby 149
May 6, 2023
One day after Into Mischief tallied a pair of Grade 1 winners on the Kentucky Oaks card at Churchill Downs, he will have three chances Saturday to get another Kentucky Derby (G1) winner with Sun Thunder, Rocket Can and Cyclone Mischief.
Sun Thunder (#13) will break from post 11 after a pair of scratches to his inside. The bay colt, who is owned by R. T. Racing Stable and Cypress Creek Equine, sold for $400,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed sale.
After breaking his maiden by a half-dozen lengths on New Year’s Eve, Sun went on to run second to Angel of Empire and gave a good account of himself in last month’s Blue Grass S. (G1) at Keeneland. He’ll be ridden by Brian Hernandez, Jr. for trainer Kenny McPeek.
“It’s a good spot. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Brian Hernandez Jr.,” said McPeek. “He’s got to negotiate the post positions and we’re gonna let him. I hire him to ride and he does a great job for me.”
Rocket Can (#18), trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, will break from post 16. The gray/roan with a distinctive white blaze made two starts at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old, including his maiden-breaking score. He won the Holy Bull S. (G3) in his 3-year-old debut and finished second to likely Derby favorite Forte in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2).
Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds LLC and owned by Frank Fletcher, Rocket Can has earned $383,413. He’ll be ridden Saturday by Junior Alvarado.
Rounding out the trio is Cyclone Mischief (#21), who was the first horse on the also-eligible list. He will break from post 17, just outside of Rocket Can, after a total of four scratches.
Trained by Dale Romans for Albaugh Family Stables LLC and Castleton Lyons, Cyclone Mischief wintered in Florida, where he was a dominating allowance winner in early January, then ran third in both the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1). Joel Rosario has the mount.
Cyclone Mischief sold for $450,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling and was bred by Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate in Kentucky.
The 149th Kentucky Derby has a schedule post time of 6:57 p.m. ET and can be seen live on NBC’s day-long coverage from Noon through 7:30 p.m.