SF Racing names colt after Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes

SF Racing and its partners named a 2-year-old colt Hughes on Tuesday in honor of American hockey star Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime goal that delivered Team USA its first men's Olympic gold medal in 46 years.

Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Racing, announced the naming on social media, calling the Hughes family "the heartbeat of these 2026 Olympics."

"His speech, his will to win, and that golden-goal moment captured everything that's right about sport," Ryan wrote on X.

The New Jersey Devils center scored 1:41 into overtime Saturday to lift the United States to a 2-1 victory over Canada in the gold medal game at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. It marked the first American men's hockey gold since the 1980 Miracle on Ice team at Lake Placid.

Hughes, the colt, is by Into Mischief out of K P Dreamin (Union Rags). Donato Lanni signed for the colt at $675,000 during the 2025 Keeneland September yearling sale, where Blandford Stud consigned him on behalf of breeder Breffni Farm. The colt will enter the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert for the 2026 juvenile season.

Ryan noted an additional family connection to the Hughes surname – his wife Katie's father, Pat Hughes, won the Stanley Cup three times during a decade-long NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and four other franchises. The two Hughes families are not related.

The colt's ownership group reads like a familiar roll call in the sport: SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Albaugh Family Stables, Robert Masterson, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan. The partnership, often referred to as "The Avengers," has campaigned several high-profile runners with Baffert in recent years.

Into Mischief, a perennial leading North American sire, stood at Spendthrift Farm and led the general sire list from 2019 through 2025. His offspring include 2020 horse of the year Authentic, who also carried the SF Racing colors early in his career.