Mind Control

Mind Control gave trainer Gregory Sacco his first career Grade 1 win in the 2018 Hopeful Stakes on Saratoga’s Labor Day closing card with a game score over favored Mucho.

The Stay Thirsty colt finished second in his debut at Delaware Park in July, and then shipped to Monmouth and posted an eye-catching three-length win.

In the Hopeful, he set a pressured pace and held off Mucho’s closing charge under a skillful ride from John Velazquez. After a disappointing effort in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Mind Control began his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the Jerome Stakes on New Year's Day, earning 10 2019 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. He followed with another solid effort on the Derby trail when second to Haikal in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes on March 9 at Aqueduct. The runner-up finish gave him 30 qualifying points for the first jewel of the Triple Crown.

Cutting back in distance to seven-eighths of a mile for the Grade 3, $250,000 Bay Shore Stakes on April 6, Mind Control reeled in Much Better in deep stretch and put him away in the final sixteenth of a mile for a determined 1 1/4-length victory.

Mind Control finished a nonthreatening eighth in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes in June at Belmont Park before finishing third by a neck in the Concern Stakes at Laurel Park in July. He regained his peak form in his next start when he closed powerfully to reel in undefeated Shancelot in the final strides of the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes Presented by Runhappy Aug. 24 at Saratoga. 

Mind Control returned from a layoff of 4 1/2 months in the Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes Jan 18, 2020 at Aqueduct. The bay colt won his 4-year-old bow by holding off fast-closing Nicodemus by a nose in a thrilling finish. Mind Control continued his dominance at Aqueduct March 7, closing from off the pace to reel in Happy Farm in the closing strides of the  Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap for a 1 1/4-length win while carrying 125 pounds.

After his win in the Tom Fool, Mind Control continued to compete in stakes races all over the East Coast and in Kentucky, but his winning form tailed off and he lost eight starts in a row through early summer 2021. His best finish during that streak came when he was a distant second behind Mischevious Alex in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct in April 2021 and he also finished third three times in stakes.

On Independence Day 2021, that long streak came to an end in a big way, as Mind Control upset 2-5 favorite Firenze Fire at Belmont to take the Grade 1 John A. Nerud Stakes by a hard-fought head. Mind Control earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with the victory.