To celebrate the 40th running of the Breeders’ Cup, the TDN will share a photo and catch up with a past winner in each of the 40 days leading up to the event. Today, we have Sprint winner Mitole. | Sarah Andrew
By Jill Williams
It’s hard for a horse to have a better season than Mitole did at four: his four Grade Is included the Sprint as well as the Met Mile and it’s no small thing to set (and still hold) Saratoga’s GI Forego stakes record of 1:20.80 for seven panels.
“A long time ago somebody asked a groom what makes a good racehorse. He said speed and more speed. That always makes me think of Mitole,” said Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm. “This was a horse that had an unbelievable career, was brought along really well by [trainer Steve] Asmussen, developed a reputation early on as a really fast horse, kind of began to assert that speed as he stepped up in class. They never found a class that was too high for him. When you look at him, he’s among the most well-made horses we have. He’s a smooth-bodied horse: every part of him just fits together and it’s easy to understand why he functioned as a well-oiled machine.”
Mitole (2015 bay horse, Eskendereya–Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie)
Lifetime record: Ch. male sprinter, MGISW, 14-10-2-2, $3,104,910
Breeders’ Cup connections: B-Edward A. Cox, Jr. (KY); O-L. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt; T-Steve Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr.
Current location: Spendthrift Farm, Lexington, Ky.
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