May 2, 2024

Mia Mischief seeks fourth straight in Winning Colors

Mia Mischief rolled to a convincing win in the Carousel at Oaklawn Park (Coady Photography)

Generally at her most imposing under Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires, Mia Mischief looms as the horse to beat in Saturday’s $100,000 Winning Colors (G3), a 6-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.

A winner in five of eight starts at Churchill, including last year’s Humana Distaff (G1), Mia Mischief handed 2019 division champion Covfefe her lone defeat of the season over the Louisville strip last summer.

The Steve Asmussen-trained daughter of Into Mischief is off to a fast start this term, winning twice at Oaklawn, including the Carousel S. by more than four lengths over the likes of Amy’s Challenge, Lady Suebee, and Bellafina.

Multiple graded stakes winner Spiced Perfection re-starts her campaign after a season-opening fourth in the Inside Information (G2) in late January. Winner of the La Brea (G1) in the waning days of 2018, the Smiling Tiger mare captured the Madison (G1), Thoroughbred Club of America (G2), and Go for Wand H. (G3) last season when trained by Peter Miller. She debuts Saturday for Mark Casse.

On paper, Break Even looks like the one to catch. She’s won seven of nine starts, including last year’s Eight Belles (G2) by more than five lengths over subsequent Grade 2 heroine Bell’s the One. Break Even rebounded from a sub-par first run of the season, in the Spring Fever S., by taking an Apr. 18 Oaklawn allowance by three lengths.

Also coming off allowance wins are Princess Causeway for Ian Wilkes and the Grade 2-placed Sneaking Out for Jerry Hollendorfer.