Colt out of Into Mischief mare Dark Corner
WinStar Farm's multiple grade 1 winner and 2020 Eclipse champion older male Improbable sired his first reported foal when a colt was born Jan. 10 at Bluewater Farm.
Bred by China Horse Club, the colt is out of the winning Into Mischief mare Dark Corner, a half-sister to 2019 Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner Perfect Alibi . China Horse Club bought the mare at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $175,000 under the name CHC from Buckland Sales. Dark Corner's immediate family includes grade 1 winner Missed the Storm and multiple graded stakes winner Green Means Go.
"We've been eagerly anticipating the Improbable foals since retiring him to stud in 2021," said Liam O'Rourke, WinStar's director of bloodstock services. "We're thrilled for our longtime partner CHC having his first foal. We look forward to welcoming many more foals out of quality mares like Dark Corner."
Improbable, City Zip's only four-time grade 1 winner, rattled off three of those grade 1 wins in 2020 in taking the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) and Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park and the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. In the Awesome Again he beat champion Maximum Security by 4 1/2 lengths, recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 108.
Undefeated in three starts at 2, Improbable won two stakes, including a five-length victory over subsequent grade 1 winner Mucho Gusto in the 2018 Los Alamitos Futurity (G1). He cleared the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.18, the fastest time of the race in over a decade. Improbable won stakes each season from 2 to 4 and concluded his championship year with a runner-up finish in the 2020 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in 2020, earning a 108 Beyer and a 2 Ragozin rating, the fastest of the field. He retired with a 7-4-0 record from 15 starts and earned $2,729,520 for owners WinStar Farm, CHC, and SF Racing.
Improbable hails from the same family as proven sire and grade 1 winner Hard Spun . He bred 177 mares in his initial season at stud and was the leading entering-year sire of 2021 with a 3.80 Class Performance Index and second-leading sire with a 2.34 Comparable Index in the $25,000-$49,999 stud fee range. Represented in 2021 by first in-foal mares that sold for $550,000, $445,000, and $420,000, Improbable had the second-highest covering sire average for his sire class of $209,471.
Improbable is a complete outcross in his first four generations. His dam, Rare Event, is by A.P. Indy, while his second dam is a half-sister to Hard Spun. Improbable will stand the upcoming breeding season for $35,000.
