Anyone who bristled at Flightline heading to the breeding shed after just six races should be members of the Mind Control Fan Club.
The 6-year-old son of Stay Thirsty is indeed a throwback in terms of durability, though even the typical juvenile star of the 1950s and 1960s did not put together a career as lengthy in terms of years as him.
At 2, he was precocious enough to win the Hopeful Stakes (G1), a stakes not usually associated with horses who are still productive in upper echelon races at 5 and 6. The colt owned by breeder Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables maintained his form as time passed, capturing another grade 1 at 3, the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes (G1). Then, instead of becoming a stallion, he continued racing—and winning graded stakes—at 4, 5, and even this year at 6, making him the first Hopeful winner to win a graded stakes at 6 since Silver Wagon in 2007 .
Even more telling, of the last 16 Hopeful winners who are now 4 or older, only Mind Control, a graded stakes winner in five straight years, 2006 winner Circular Quay, and 2020 victor Jackie's Warrior have also won graded stakes at 3 and 4.
"It's very rare to have a grade 1 winner at 2 and 3 who is still around and winning graded stakes at 6," said Steve Brunetti, who runs the Red Oak operation. "I'm extremely proud that we bred him and of what he's accomplished."
Yet, as Brunetti went on to say, "all good things must come to an end," which explains all of the emotions Brunetti and Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables are experiencing as Mind Control approaches his 29th and final start in the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) Dec. 3 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"It's sad and I get emotional just thinking about his final race," Brunetti said about the $1.7 million earner. "He's one of the best horses around. It's incredible to think that he's one of the favorites in the Cigar Mile as a 6-year-old horse and I'm very appreciative of what he's done for us. He's brought us so much joy."
Mind Control has won 11 times, with all seven of his graded stakes triumphs coming since Kumin bought a one-third share of him for his Madaket partnership group, which includes New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, prior to the horse's third start, his win in the 2018 Hopeful.
"He's a warrior. There's not a lot like him and they are a lot of fun," Kumin said. "Every year he has that race or two when he gets back to top form. He's been an amazing horse to be a part of. He's such a cool horse. He'll be missed. He's like some of the other ones I've had like Mind Your Biscuits and Whitmore that are durable and run so well for so long. They are the ones you miss and are hard to replace."
That warrior in him bubbled to the fore in at least two races that resonated with Brunetti.
A year ago in the Parx Dirt Mile Stakes, he was passed in the stretch by Silver State , who had won the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) two starts prior to that, only to battle back and prevail by a head. Then earlier this year in the Salvator Mile Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park, he set the pace with $5 million earner Hot Rod Charlie in closest pursuit. At the eighth pole, Hot Rod Charlie forged to a short lead, but once again the determination and fighting spirit of Mind Control kicked in and he found one last gear to catch and pass Hot Rod Charlie and win by a head, the margin of victory the last three times he crossed the wire first.
"Getting passed in the stretch and coming back to win is something you just don't see that often in a stakes," Brunetti said. "Maybe in claimers, but not in stakes. That shows how much heart he has."
The Salvator Mile was part of what has been a successful fifth and final year of racing in a remarkably steady career.
The son of the Lightnin N Thunder mare Feel That Fire was originally trained by Gregg Sacco, the brother of Red Oak racing manager Rick Sacco, who handled him through the two grade 1 wins and 7 victories in 20 starts before he was transferred to Pletcher's barn in the summer of 2021 so he could be based in New York.
"Gregg did a great job and he would give him time at our Ocala farm whenever he needed it," Brunetti said. "And Rick has done a super job of managing him and planning his career."
Under Pletcher, Mind Control won his first start out of the new barn, taking the John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) and later was sent to Del Mar for the 2021 Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), only to be scratched due to a fever.
"A lot of credit for Mind Control's success goes to Gregg Sacco," Pletcher said. "We got him late in his career. You don't get many horses as honest as him."
This year, Mind Control also missed the Breeders' Cup, but it was part of a game plan. After the 6-year-old posted a second straight win in the Sept. 24 Parx Dirt Mile—this time via disqualification—Pletcher pushed for pointing to the Cigar instead of the Breeders' Cup to freshen Mind Control a bit and give him a better chance to register one more grade 1 win.
"He likes Aqueduct and runs well fresh, so we've been locked in on the Cigar Mile for a while," said Pletcher, noting Mind Control's mark of 4-2-1 in seven starts at the Big A and four wins and a second in five overall starts at a mile. "He's a pleasure to train. He's a super professional horse and likes his job. He's been a phenomenal horse. He's held his form for so long and has been a model of consistency."
The move certainly appears wise at the moment as Mind Control, who is the 5-2 second choice in the morning line, seems much better spotted in the $750,000 Cigar with 10 weeks rest than he would have been in the tougher $1 million BC Dirt Mile on just six weeks rest.
"You have to credit Todd for wanting to give him more time and running in the Cigar Mile instead of the Breeders' Cup," Kumin said. "Todd's been great at seeing when he needed time off, monitoring him and then finding good spots for him."
While Saturday will mark the end of one chapter in Mind Control's career, his more leisurely next one is expected to come into focus early next week when details of his stallion deal are slated to be announced. While he may not have a regal pedigree, there is surely much to like in his two grade 1 wins, graded stakes wins at 2 through 6, and the intriguing mix of speed and durability he displayed on the racetrack.
"We haven't received a great response about him from the farms and that's been surprising. He did win two races that are considered stallion-making races," Kumin said. "But if both of us as owners were concerned with the stallion part of the game, we probably would have done a deal right after the second grade 1 win and that would have put us in a position where we would have had to retire him. Both Steve and I enjoy racing so the idea was to wait and let him make his own pedigree until we get the perfect deal."
Given all of the emotion wrapped into Saturday, it figures to be a particularly memorable day for Brunetti. There will, of course, be sadness, as well as hope that Mind Control can register one more grade 1 win and also optimism about a promising racing career. In a poignant example of the circle of life in racing, as the career of one Brunetti homebred ends, another will begin when, just a few minutes after the running of the Cigar, Mind Control's 2-year-old half sister by Candy Ride , White Hot Gold, will make her career debut for Gregg Sacco and Red Oak in the seventh race at Tampa Bay Downs.
"I can't believe how it's working out with both the brother and sister running on the same day," said Brunetti, who also owns the grade 1-placed 3-year-old daughter of Feel That Fire, Goddess of Fire. "We have high hopes for her."
Needless to say, if White Hot Gold proves to be even half the runner of her brother, Brunetti can expect a successful—and lengthy—career.
