Mission Impazible turns back challengers in New Orleans

Mission Impazible (inside) kept Apart (blue hat) and Giant Oak (white hat) safe in deep stretch of the New Orleans  (Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges Photos) After giving way late in the February 19 Mineshaft H. (G3), Twin Creeks Racing Stable’s MISSION IMPAZIBLE (Unbridled’s Song) maintained his lead all the wire in Saturday’s $396,000 New Orleans H. (G2), recording his first victory since capturing the 2010 Louisiana Derby (G2) at the Fair Grounds oval. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt contested the early pace along the inside and kicked clear leaving the far turn, opening up a three-length advantage with a furlong remaining in the 1 1/8-mile event. Apart (Flatter) and Giant Oak (Giant’s Causeway) both loomed a threat to challenge in midstretch, but Mission Impazible kept finding more beneath Garrett Gomez, scoring by a 1 1/2-length margin. Following moderate splits of :24, :48 2/5, 1:12 3/5 and 1:36 4/5, Mission Impazible stopped the teletimer in 1:49 over the fast track.

“I really anticipated him (Birdrun [Birdstone]) making the lead, but when I
found myself out there — my horse really broke running — I thought for a
little ways he was going to let me go out there but all of a sudden we got to
the first turn and he wanted to put pressure, but I was able to get this horse
to shut off a bit inside where I was comfortable,” Gomez said. “He didn’t quit
pulling, but it was just enough where he was happy with what was going on and as
I long as I kept him happy, I thought that when I got to the far turn that we
were going slow enough I could kind of get him on his feet and start stretching
the field and he did so.”

Off as the 3-2 second choice, the winner paid $5, $3.20 and $2.40. Apart, who
stalked the front runners in third during the early stages, gamely held Giant
Oak by a head for second at nearly 8-1. Giant Oak, who flattened out a little
late after offering a furious rally from the back of the pack, was 2 3/4 lengths
clear in third as the 3-2 favorite. Fast Alex (Afleet Alex), Birdrun, El Caballo
(El Corredor), Demarcation (Gulch) and Country Flavor (Empire Maker) rounded out
the order of finish.

Bred in Florida by Summer Wind Farm, Mission Impazible sold for $200,000 at
the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale. The gray four-year-old is out of
multiple stakes winner La Paz (Hold Your Peace), making him a half-brother to
Grade 2-winning sire Forest Camp (Deputy Minister); Grade 3 winner Spanish
Empire (Pleasant Colony); and stakes vixen Kiddari (Smarty Jones). This is also
the immediate female family of Grade 2 hero Zany Tactics (Zanthe).

Mission Impazible captured his career bow and recorded a third in the
Kentucky Juvenile (G3) early in his juvenile season, but was sidelined more
eight months afterward, returning early last year with a runner-up in a
Gulfstream allowance and a fourth in the Southwest (G3). He then broke through
with a narrow victory in the Louisiana Derby (G2), earning a spot in the
Kentucky Derby (G1) field. Mission Impazible finished ninth in the slop at
Churchill Downs and wasn’t seen again under silks in 2010, returning with a
runner-up in a Gulfstream Park allowance/optional claiming event. He entered the
New Orleans off a good second in the aforementioned Mineshaft, coming up a head
short in the final strides.

With Saturday’s $240,000 payday, Mission Impazible has now earned $798,854
from a 9-3-3-2 line. He will be pointed toward the May 6 Alysheba S. (G3) at
Churchill Downs.