Mind Control will get 'opportunity to bounce back' at age 4

Rick Sacco, racing manager for Red Oak Stable, fielded “quite a few calls” from inquiring breeders in the days following Mind Control’s victory in Saratoga’s H. Allen Jerkens (G1).

While the 3-year-old son of Stay Thirsty is headed to the farm in Ocala, Fla., connections do fully expect him to return to the racetrack for a 2020 season.

“I’d really love for this horse to win at 4, a Grade 1, and to just show a really nice campaign,” Sacco said. “We like to race. We like to race our horses. This horse, I think he’s attractive, but he’s not by Into Mischief, or a world-class stallion.

“But I think Stay Thirsty’s an undervalued stallion. We have to do a little bit more with him, and our family’s live.”

King for a Day, who beat Maximum Security earlier this season, is a relative. The Red Oak team’s also looking forward to running Mind Control’s 2-year-old half-sister, a Bodemeister filly named My Gift From Above, longer later into this season.

In short, there are plenty of ways for Mind Control — now a four-time stakes winner — to up his value.

“The ultimate goal for us this summer was this prestigious race,” Sacco said of the seven-furlong Jerkens, “which I feel is the best sprinting or middle-distance sprinting race for 3-year-olds in the country. We set a path to be right on that day.

“He will get a break now. The horse will go down to Red Oak, relax and get turned out. We’re proud of him. We accomplished what we wanted to with him for sure.”

Mind Control got a nose down on the wire ahead of Hog Creek Hustle, another Grade 1 winner, and Shancelot, the odds-on favorite who tired quickly in the final furlong of the Travers Stakes undercard feature.

A victory at Saratoga added to a Hopeful (G1) score at age 2. Co-owned by Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables and trained by Rick's brother, Gregg Sacco, Mind Control also won Aqueduct’s Jerome and Bay Shore (G3) earlier this season.

Rick Sacco noted, however, that since heading to the racetrack in April of last year, Mind Control hasn’t received a significant break from training.

“I just want to give this horse every opportunity to bounce back after laying it on the line for us,” said Sacco, who’s planning for time off leading Mind Control to a new destination, Santa Anita Park, for the year’s final Grade 1 race restricted to 3-year-olds, the seven-furlong Malibu on Dec. 26. “We’ll freshen him, and we will point for that race.

“He’s 100% sound. He actually came out of this race excellent,” Sacco added. “He went into the race in superior shape. He came out of the race bright-eyed and happy. But we will give him the break and look forward to running at the end of the year.”