BY LAURIE ROSS
Florida breeders looking for a fresh source of championship class and classic-distance stamina have a compelling option in Mr Fisk (Arrogate – Plein Air (IRE), by Manduro (Ger)), now standing his second season at Pleasant Acres Stallions. When Arrogate passed away after only three crops, the racing world lost one of its most exceptional young sires and every son of his at stud became that much more valuable; Mr Fisk is one of just six.
A multiple graded stakes winner from one mile to a mile-and-a-quarter, the well-balanced dark bay pairs the championship credentials of his Hall of Fame sire with the international class and stamina of a European-bred dam line, offering an outcross that is increasingly hard to find.
AT THE RACES
Bred and campaigned by Sunny Brook Stables and conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Mr Fisk debuted at six furlongs at Santa Anita in October of his 2-year-old season, too short for the dark bay colt. He improved next out to place second in a one-mile maiden special weight at Del Mar. The third time was the charm: back at Santa Anita, Mr Fisk rallied to a three-quarters of a length win at the same level and distance.
From then on, it was strictly stakes competition. After a typical maiden-breaking regression in the San Felipe (Grade 2), Mr Fisk placed second in the Listed Affirmed Stakes behind eventual TVG.com Haskell (G1)-winner Geaux Rocket Ride. He traded hard bumps and faded to tenth in the Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside (Listed) at Del Mar in July, then bounced back in September to dead-heat with Tahoe Sunshine in the Shared Belief (Listed) at a mile over the same track.
Stepping up to face older horses for the first time in the mile-and-one-eighth Native Diver (G3) at Santa Anita, Mr Fisk was up to the task, defeating multiple Grade 2-winner Newgrange and Skinner, who returned to win the following year’s edition. Back from a two-month layoff as a 4-year-old, he placed fifth in the San Pasqual (G2) after a wide trip before closing his career on a high note: an authoritative two-and-a-quarter-length victory in the nine-furlong Californian (G3), followed by another two-and-a-quarter-length triumph at a mile-and-a-quarter in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G2) ahead of multiple Grade 1-placed Reincarnate, a performance made all the more impressive by the condylar fracture he sustained during the race and ran through on heart and determination alone.
The injury ended Mr Fisk’s career, and the large bay retired with a record of five wins and two seconds in 11 starts and a $369,700 bankroll, a trajectory of near-constant improvement.
PEDIGREE
Mr Fisk inherits a pedigree of genuine classic-distance authority from two champions who each excelled at a mile to a mile-and-a-quarter. Arrogate contributes scope, sustained power and 10-furlong dominance on dirt. Manduro adds the polish and finish of a 2007 World’s Best Racehorse who reigned at the same distances on European turf and Mr Fisk did exactly what they did best.
Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song – Bubbler, by Distorted Humor) is a story of what might have been. Typical of Unbridled’s Song’s progeny, the huge gray didn’t begin his career until the spring of his 3-year-old season.
After finishing third in a six-furlong debut, the Bob Baffert trainee reeled off seven straight victories, including a track-record performance in the Travers (G1) and a thrilling stretch duel and half-length triumph over 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The highly anticipated rematch in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational never fully materialized; California Chrome was injured during the race, but Arrogate set another track record, this time at a mile-and-an-eighth. He capped his career with a two-and-a-quarter-length triumph over Gun Runner in the Dubai World Cup.
From only three crops, Arrogate left us with 325 foals, 249 started, while 184 (57%) won, 32 of stakes winners, six Grade 1 winners, including a champion and two classic winners: 2023 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Belmont Stakes (G1)-victor Arcangelo, 2024 Preakness (G1)-hero Seize the Gray, plus Kentucky Oaks winner, Secret Oath.
Mr Fisk’s distaff line reads like a passport, stakes winners stamped across Italy, Ireland, England and the United States, at trips from sprints to a mile and a half, anchored by some of European racing’s most influential names.
His dam, Plein Air (Ire) (Manduro (Ger) – Too In Love (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)), was a listed stakes winner in Italy who carried her form across the Atlantic, capturing the listed Astra Stakes at a mile-and-a-half over the Santa Anita lawn in her U.S. debut.
She disappointed in three subsequent stakes and retired with a eight wins with a second and athird in 14 starts and $163,617 in earnings. Mr Fisk is her first foal and, to date, her most accomplished.
Her half-siblings include multiple listed-winning Italian sprinter-miler Close Your Eyes (Mujahid) and Freefromcare (Halling), listed placed at a mile-and-a-quater in Italy.
Plein Air’s dam, Too In Love (Ire), is a daughter of European champion and supersire Galileo (Ire), from a solid family that includes European Group 3-winning miler Pride of Nation (Ire), multiple stakes-placed Highway to Glory (Ire), and stakes-placed Desert Version (GB).
Manduro (Ger) (Monsun (Ger) – Mandellicht (Ire), by Be My Guest) — the world’s top-rated racehorse of 2007 by both Timeform and the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, counts Mr Fisk as his most accomplished and highest-earning grandson, and his only U.S. stakes winner.
As a broodmare sire, Manduro has produced 297 winners and 21 black-type winners from 573 starters, including 2018 1,000 Guineas Stakes (GB) heroine Billesdon Brook (Fr) and Australian multiple group-winning turf router Deny Knowledge.
Manduro’s own Group 1 victories came from 1,600 to 2,000 meters, roughly one mile to 1 1/4 miles, the same range in which his grandson did his best running.
Rather than pulling the pedigree toward turf, he reinforces classic-distance class with balance, soundness and finish, giving Mr Fisk a more layered stamina profile than the typical American dirt pedigree built on speed and size alone.
AT STUD
“Mr Fisk is about 16.1 hands and is a beautiful horse,” Pleasant Acres Stallions Stallion Manager Christine Jones said. “He’s an Arrogate, which is very attractive to breeders, but you can see a lot of Galileo coming through from his dam’s side. We have great hopes for him.”
That blend is precisely what Mr Fisk offers in his second year at stud, a package Florida breeders will struggle to find elsewhere.
Graded-stakes class on dirt, classic-distance soundness and a European-bred dam line bring genuine staying power and outcross value, while keeping him well-positioned for mares from the A.P. Indy, Mr. Prospector, Danzig, Roberto, Wild Again, Awesome Again, and Caro lines, all crosses that proved successful with Arrogate.
Mr Fisk stands the 2026 season for $8,500 at Pleasant Acres Stallions.
Return to the April 28 issue of Wire to Wire
