Toronto’s JOHN FIELDING, a longtime Thoroughbred breeder and Standardbred owner, has boosted his racing presence in recent years by joining many partnerships with various Canadian and U.S. stables. His stable in 2020 included many beautiful prospects for the entrepreneur and passionate racing fan including the undefeated AUTHENTIC, winner of the Mar. 7 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.
Owned in partnership SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, LLC, Frederick Hertrich, III, and Golconda Stables and trained by Bob Baffert, Authentic, a son of Into Mischief out of the Mr. Greeley mare Flawless, picked up 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, virtually assuring him of starting berth in the Run for the Roses on May 2.
With the winner’s share of $240,000, Authentic now has earnings of $331,200 with 3 wins in 3 starts.
Authentic bounded straight to the lead and dominated his competition throughout in the , $400,000 San Felipe Stakes, projecting himself as the early favorite in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby April 4. Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, the Kentucky-bred colt by Into Mischief easily prevailed by 2 ¼ lengths, while getting a mile and one sixteenth in 1:43.56.
He earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Heading to the three furlong pole, Authentic enjoyed a roughly 1 ½ length advantage over Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Storm the Court, while Honor A.P., with Smith up, were in hot pursuit. Turning for home, it was apparent Authentic had plenty left in the tank and he seemed to find another gear late as he won in-hand with his ears pricked.
A 7 ¾ length winner of the Grade III Sham Stakes at one mile here on Jan. 4, Authentic was the 6-5 favorite versus six rival sophomores today and paid $4.40, $3.20 and $2.60.
Honor A.P., an impressive one mile maiden winner on Oct. 13, acquitted himself very well, finishing 3 ½ lengths in front of Storm the Court in a determined effort. Trained by John Shirreffs, Honor A.P. was off at 3-1 and paid $4.00 and $2.80.
Storm the Court, with Joel Rosario aboard, kept to his task but was third best, finishing 5 ½ lengths clear of previously unbeaten Thousand Words. Off at 4-1, Storm the Court paid $2.80 to show.
The second, third and fourth place finishers received 20, 10 and five Derby qualifying points respectively.
Fielding and his partners purchased the colt for $350,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Fielding, who has won over 20 Breeders’ Crown races in Standardbred racing, joined forces with friend Fred Hertrich in the early 1990s to begin breeding Thoroughbreds.
In 1981, John Fielding and his brother Bill founded Array Marketing, an award-winning retail merchandising company that they sold in 2000.
Fielding was also an initial investor in Ethoca Solutions Inc., for which he served as chairman of the board of directors. Ethoca Solutions Inc. is a fraud solutions and e-commerce provider founded in 2005; the company was acquired by Mastercard International in 2019.
Not only does Fielding own a share in Authentic, but he also has a share in impressive debut winner CHARLATAN, also trained by Bob Baffert. The son of Speightstown had a big workout on the weekend, 6 furlongs in 1:12 3/5 and could be on the road to the Derby as well.
**Aqueduct hosted the Gotham Stakes (G3) on Mar. 7 and the one-turn, one-mile race was won by the speedy Mischevious Alex, also a son of Into Mischief.
Mischevious Alex, undefeated since the addition of blinkers, was prominent throughout the one-turn mile Gotham en route to a two-length score under Kendrick Carmouche. The bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, continued a three-race win streak that includes a 9 ¾-length score in the seven-furlong Parx Juvenile in November and a last-out seven-length score in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park.
Mischevious Alex, who garnered a 90 Beyer Speed Figure in victory, also earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in victory and now stands in third position on the leaderboard for a spot in the starting gate on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Trainer John Servis said Mischevious Alex is likely to make his next start in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 4 at the Big A, where 100-40-20-10 Derby points will be on the line.
“He hasn’t done much wrong. I think the Wood is the logical spot on the radar,” said Servis. “I’ll sit down with Mr. Zacney [Cash is King] and Mr. Bennett [LC Racing] and decide where we’re going to go next.”
Servis, who won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Smarty Jones, was full of praise for Carmouche who was aboard Mischevious Alex for the first time.
“Kendrick rode him perfect. I told him if he runs to his PPs, he’ll break like a rocket,” said Servis. “He broke sharp and he let him sit off it a little bit. When he had to call on him to maintain his position, he got right up there and sat again. Turning for home, when he asked him, he drew off. I think he had a little more left in the tank.”
Mischevious Alex finished third in the one-mile Sapling in September at Monmouth Park, his only two-turn test on dirt. Cash is King Stable’s Chuck Zacney said he is hopeful his colt can make the distance.
“Our motto is one furlong at a time. We did seven, we did eight, what’s next? I guess it’s nine,” said Zacney following the Gotham.
**Saturday also featured the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) won by 49 to 1 longshot KING GUILLERMO (Uncle Mo). This speedy bay colt won by more than 4 lengths (read more here ) in 1:42.36 for 1 1/16 miles, good for a hefty 99 Beyer Speed Figure. King Guillermo is not yet Triple Crown nominated.
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS
Rank – – Horse – – Points Owner(s) – – Trainer – – Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1. Authentic 60 SF Racing LLC (Gavin Murphy), Starlight Racing (Jack &Laurie Wolf), Madaket Stables LLC (Sol Kumin & Jason Monteleone), Frederick Hertrich III, John D. Fielding and Golconda Stables (Ben Goldberg & Elliot Friman) Bob Baffert $300,000
2. Ete Indien 54 Linda Shanahan, Sanford Bacon, Dream With Me Stable Inc., Horse France America, D P Racing LLC (Deron Pearson) & Patrick L.
Biancone Racing LLC Patrick Biancone $285,156
— Mr. Monomoy 52 Madaket Stables LLC (Sol Kumin & Jason Monteleone), Michael Dubb & Doheny Racing Stable (Michael Doheny) Brad Cox $260,000
3. Mischevious Alex 50 Cash is King LLC (Chuck Zacney et al) & LC Racing LLC (Glenn Bennett) John Servis $308,410
4. Modernist 50 Pam & Martin Wygod Bill Mott $240,000
— +King Guillermo 50 Victoria’s Ranch Juan Carlos Avila $217,050 (Not Triple Crown nominated)
5. Enforceable 33 John C. Oxley Mark Casse $264,550
6. Storm the Court 32 David A. Bernsen LLC, Exline-Border Racing LLC (Ryan Exline and family & Justin Border), Dan Hudock & Susanna Wilson
Peter Eurton $1,196,351
7. Sole Volante 30 Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Andie Biancone & Limelight Stables Corp. Patrick Biancone $243,510
8. Thousand Words 25 Albaugh Family Stables (LLC Dennis Albaugh & Jason Loustch) & Spendthrift Farm LLC (B. Wayne Hughes) Bob Baffert $205,000
9. Tiz the Law 22 Sackatoga Stable (Jack Knowlton et al) Barclay Tagg $456,000
10. Silver Prospector 21 Ed and Susie Orr Steve Asmussen $654,851
11. Honor A. P. 20 C R K Stable LLC (Lee & Susan Searing) John Shirreffs $80,000 Career: $122,200
12. Major Fed 20 Lloyd Madison Farms IV LLC Greg Foley $80,000 Career: $116,500
13. Candy Tycoon 20 Mathis Stable LLC Todd Pletcher $76,000
14. Untitled 20 Gary Barber & Michael B. Sebastian Mark Casse $67,275
15. Shotski 19 Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable (Adam Wachtel), Pantofel Stable (Len Schleifer) & Howling Pigeon Farms LLC (Michael Karty) Jeremiah O’Dwyer $212,466
16. Independence Hall 14 Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners (Aron Wellman), Twin Creeks Racing Stables LLC (Steve Davison & Randy Gullatt), Kathleen
Verratti & Robert N. Verratti Mike Trombetta $205,000
17. Silver State 14 Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (Ron Winchell) & Willis Horton Racing LLC Steve Asmussen $80,000 Career: $136,106
18. Azul Coast 14 Karl Watson, Michael E. Pegram & Paul Weitman Bob Baffert $80,000 Career: $104,000
19. Shoplifted 13 Grandview Equine (Robert Clay), Cheyenne Stables LLC (Everett Dobson) & LNJ Foxwoods (Larry, Nanci & Jaime Roth) Steve Asmussen $388,500
20. Anneau d’Or 12 Peter Redekop B. C., Ltd. Blaine Wright $385,000
21. Maxfield 10 Godolphin LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum et al) Brendan Walsh $300,000
22. Eight Rings 10 SF Racing LLC (Gavin Murphy), Starlight Racing (Jack & Laurie Wolf), Madaket Stables LLC (Sol Kumin & Jason Monteleone),
Frederick Hertrich III, John D. Fielding and Golconda Stables (Ben Goldberg & Elliot Friman) Bob Baffert $200,351
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