Sovereignty Gives Into Mischief Third KY Derby Winner

Six-time leading sire Into Mischief sired his third Kentucky Derby (G1) winner May 3 when Godolphin homebred Sovereignty splashed to a 1 1/2-length victory over Journalism at Churchill Downs. The Spendthrift Farm sire is the first stallion since Bull Lea in 1957 to sire three Kentucky Derby winners, tying the all-time record. Virgil, Falsetto, and Sir Gallahad III are the only other sires to accomplish the feat. Into Mischief became the first stallion to sire back-to-back winners of the Kentucky Derby in 2020-21 with Authentic, who also stands at Spendthrift, and Mandaloun. Sovereignty's win not only gave him his third Derby winner, but became his 24th grade 1 winner. He is the sire of six Eclipse champions, eight Breeders' Cup winners, and 84 graded stakes winners. "We had Pretty Mischievous (by Into Mischief) two years ago who won the Oaks," said Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock Michael Banahan. "We've had some nice horses by him but this horse (Sovereignty) is probably the best one we've had. "He's a wonderful stallion. He's a great speed influence but, as you can see, if he gets the right mare he can get classic 1 1/4-mile horses as well." "He's rare," Spendthrift Farm's stallion sale manager Mark Toothaker said. "That's the thing with Into Mischief, is with him being the leading general sire in North America six years in a row and now this year, pretty much has a real shot to make it seven years in a row. "You've got to go back to Bold Ruler in the '60s to find another stallion like that. And for him to accomplish what he did today, it just further proves what a great sire he is, and what a historic sire he is." A grade 1 winner himself, he only made six starts on the racetrack, plagued by a foot abscess before ultimately retiring in 2009. His stud fee for his first year at Spendthrift Farm was a modest $12,500, dipping as low as $7,500 before ultimately climbing to his current fee of $250,000. "Who would have ever thought, you know, you go back to the beginning, when we were begging people to breed to him and it's just, it's crazy," Toothaker continued. "I remember doing breed secures on Into Mischief at $7,000. "I bought a couple of horses off Spendthrift early on, back when I was just selling horses for them; $11,000 worth and they made over 2 million bucks, but no one knew who Into Mischief was and had no idea what he was going to wind up doing." Into Mischief's first grade 1 winner came out of his first crop of 3-year-olds in 2013 when Goldencents won the Santa Anita Derby (G1). A month later, he had two Derby starters in Goldencents and Vyjack, demanding respect from breeders. Goldencents went on to score back-to-back wins in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in 2013-14 before entering stud in 2015 alongside his sire at Spendthrift and himself becoming sire of a Kentucky Derby winner in 2024 with Mystik Dan. "He's a breed-changing sire," Toothaker said. "And we are all unbelievably blessed to be at Spendthrift at the same time he's there. He is just a rarity."