WinStar Farm's Mullikin, winner of the 2024 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, has been made the 2-1 morning-line favorite as he returns to the scene of his most important victory in a highly competitive edition of the $400,000 True North Stakes (G3) June 7.
The 6 1/2-furlong main-track sprint drew a field of eight 4-year-olds and up. Mullikin, 2024 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) winner Nakatomi, and 2024 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) winner Book'em Danno carry co-high weight of 124 pounds. The fourth grade 1 winner in the field—2023 Hopeful Stakes (G1) winner Nutella Fella—carries 118 pounds as a nonwinner of a graded stakes in 2024 or 2025.
Mullikin, a 5-year-old son of Violence , finished fifth but was beaten just 1 1/4 lengths in his 2025 debut May 3 in a talent-laden Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) on the Derby Day undercard. Churchill Downs runner-up Nysos, who suffered his first career defeat, returned to win the May 31 Triple Bend Stakes (G3) by 5 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita Park, where he registered one of the highest speed figures of the year.
Mullikin had the outermost 11 post in the Churchill Downs and battled for the lead while wide over a sloppy, sealed track.
"(Mullikin) ran huge," trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. "I'm not sure that sloppy and sealed was the best track condition for him. It was sloppy, and he was three-wide pressing, even four-wide pressing, made the lead, and just got tired the last sixteenth off the layoff. That was a very difficult spot to come back."
Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno also ran a big one in the Churchill Downs. Bumped at the start, the 4-year-old New Jersey-bred Bucchero gelding stalked the pace and split horses inside of Mullikin in the lane. Book'em Danno hit the lead late but ultimately finished fourth, beaten just a neck by the winner Mindframe in a blanket finish.
Nakatomi, owned by Qatar Racing and Mrs. Fitriani Hay, will be making his first start since running second, beaten just a neck by Dark Saffron, in the April 5 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) at Meydan Racecourse.
"He hadn't had a run going into this year, so we trained him into that race. He ran a very nice second in Dubai off of not having a run," trainer Wesley Ward said. "He's doing great. I'm always a little apprehensive of horses after they start over in Dubai. I try to give them a lot of time.
"When he got back, we were intending on giving him more time, but he was just feeling so good that we decided to give him an easy work. He came out of that and was always up at the front of the stall with his ears pricked, happy, and bouncing all the way to and from the track."
If the pace heats up too much, Donna Wright and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Crazy Mason will be looking to take advantage. The stretch-running 4-year-old colt by Coal Front won the Carter Stakes (G2) April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack with an electrifying late move. The Gregory Sacco trainee was last of seven, 10 lengths back, after a half-mile of the seven-furlong Carter, but he ran his final three furlongs in an impressive :35.64, according to the Equibase GPS chart, to get up by a neck.
The True North was a grade 2 from 1985 to 2024. The American Graded Stakes Committee downgraded it to grade 3 for 2025. If this field holds up, it could constitute a first step towards restoration.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, June 7, 2025, Race 7Entries: True North S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Concrete Glory (PA) Luis Saez 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 8/1 2 2Crazy Mason (KY) Manuel Franco 122 Gregory D. Sacco 9/2 3 3Surveillance (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 120 Linda Rice 15/1 4 4Nakatomi (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 124 Wesley A. Ward 4/1 5 5Book'em Danno (NJ) Paco Lopez 124 Derek S. Ryan 5/2 6 6Mullikin (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Rodolphe Brisset 2/1 7 7Full Moon Madness (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 Michelle Nevin 20/1 8 8Nutella Fella (KY) Junior Alvarado 118 Gary C. Contessa 20/1
