After winning the CA$1 million King's Plate Aug. 23 at Woodbine with Caitlinhergrtness, Siena Farm and WinStar Farm teamed up to take down another major race Aug. 24, this time on United States soil.
Their up-and-coming 4-year-old sprinter, Mullikin, improved to 4-for-4 in 2024 with a gate-to-wire, 5 3/4-length romp in the $500,000 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Travers Stakes Day.
Flavien Prat was aboard the front-running winner, who zipped seven furlongs in 1:21.75 on a fast track after setting fractions of :22.46 and :44.88.
"He broke like a rocket; everything went our way, and he was pretty impressive," trainer Rodolphe Brisset said.
Mullikin paid $5.30 to win as the favorite.
"That was amazing," WinStar Farm racing manager, president, and CEO Elliott Walden said. "He's a really unbelievable horse. He's been great all year, and he just keeps getting better."
The race also proved a breakthrough race for the colt and his trainer, Brisset. Both Mullikin and Brisset notched the first grade 1 wins of their careers.
"It is really special," Walden said of the achievement by his trainer. "Rudy has been a really big part of our team since he went out on his own (in 2017). It is great for him."
#6 Mullikin was much the best in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at #Saratoga.
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) August 24, 2024
Trainer @BrissetRodolphe 🇫🇷 gets his 1st Grade 1!
Jockey: Flavien Prat 🇫🇷
Owner: @WinStarFarm pic.twitter.com/9qVoyMeCaO
Gun Pilot, who stalked inside early, passed a couple of horses to grab second but never threatened the winner. Angkor, who chased the winner early, showed, 2 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up. Cagliostro ran a non-threatening fourth after stumbling badly at the start, three-quarters of a length behind Angkor.
Bred in Kentucky by Fred Hertrich lll and John Fielding, Mullikin is out of the Congrats mare Tulira's Star, who showed in the 2014 Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga. He is one of three winners from four foals to race and her lone stakes winner.
Mullikin was a $500,000 purchase by Maverick Racing, a buying arm of WinStar Farm, at the 2021 September Yearling Sale from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.
The sprinter improved to 5-3-0 in nine starts and picked up the first-place prize of $275,000 to boost his career earnings to $673,612. The Forego was his second consecutive stakes victory after first taking the July 6 John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack in fast time.
"I thought last time was good, but today was something else," Prat said. "He's got a great attitude, and he seems like he's enjoying himself. He's going in the right direction."
Top finishers from the Forego often continue on to compete during the fall in the Breeders' Cup, either in the $2 million Breeder's Cup Sprint (G1) or the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). All of Mullikin's career starts have come in sprints, seemingly making the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint a more likely goal than the two-turn dirt mile. This year's Breeders' Cup is Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.
Mullikin is one of two graded winners this year for Violence , the 12th-ranked general sire of last year. His other, Newgrange, won the San Pasqual Stakes (G2) in January. Violence stood this past breeding season at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Kentucky for $40,000
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