Mufasa Earns Breeders’ Cup Berth in G3 Vosberg
It was a first U.S. stakes victory for Practical Joke’s Chilean Group III winner Mufasa (5h Practical Joke x Miscanti, by Scat Daddy) on Saturday with a win in the Grade III Vosburgh Stakes to punch his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup.
Racing in the seven-furlong dirt race, Mufasa broke strongly to race in a restrained second behind Dean Delivers. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. kept Mufasa in that spot until letting his reins out a notch to let the eager runner take off.
In only a matter of strides, Mufasa had the lead and he pulled away from there when urged on by Ortiz Jr. to win by 4 ¼ lengths.
“I think it was impressive. We were expecting something big from him,” said trainer Ignacio Correas IV. “I’m not sure if that is big, the only question was the surface. He’d never run on the slop. He did everything good, like usual, like good horses do. He’s a good horse, probably when he ran at Churchill, it was a little short, but he showed he could run, he made a big move that day. Then, at Colonial, he beat a very good horse. Then today he was impressive again. I mean, no words can describe his performance.”
It was the 10th career victory in 13 starts for the Carlos Saavedra and Stud Vendaval owned Mufasa, who is trained by Correas after moving to the U.S. in early 2024. He has won two of his three starts in the country with this being his stakes debut. The victory came at the right time with the horse earning a spot in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Sprint thanks to the “Win and You’re In” berth awarded here.
Mufasa is one of two stakes performers for five-time winning Scat Daddy mare Miscanti, who also produced Mistela. Bred by Haras Paso Nevado, Mufasa’s third dam is dual Grade I winner Mi Quimera, whose descendants also include Group I winners My Halo, Mi Surena, Smart Wells, and Expressive Smart.
This is the ninth stakes winner of the year for Practical Joke, who also has 22 stakes performers, including two Grade I winners.