Mitole

William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Mitole finished third in his career debut in November 2017 and then finished second in January 2018 in his second race. He earned a breakthrough win in his third race, dictating the tempo and pulling away to a 10-length romp at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 3.

Mitole finished second in the Gazebo Stakes on Feb. 24 in his stakes debut. He next posted a seven-length runaway win on March 17 before picking up his first stakes win by nine lengths in the Bachelor Stakes on April 12 at Oaklawn. Mitole added a stakes victory on the Preakness Stakes undercard when he won the Chick Lang Stakes by 6 ¼ lengths on May 19.

Mitole won an allowance race on March 2, 2019, in his 4-year-old bow. Mitole made his graded stakes debut on April 13 at Oaklawn in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap. Grade 1 winner Whitmore pressured Mitole throughout but was no match for him in the stretch, where Mitole surged away to a convincing victory. That duo was reunited on Derby day, competing in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes. Once again Mitole surged to the lead in the stretch to collect his first top-level score.

After his triumph in the Churchill Downs Stakes, Mitole’s connections decided to stretch him out again, targeting the one-turn Grade 1 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap, commonly known as the Met Mile, on June 8 at Belmont Park. Facing one of the deepest fields in recent Met Mile history, Mitole broke well under regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr., tracked a fast pace set by Coal Front, drew clear in midstretch, and was all out to hold off Grade 1 winner McKinzie and globe-trotting Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow, winning by three quarters of a length in a final time of 1:32.75, the second-fastest Met Mile in history.

Mitole's winning streak came to a halt at seven in the July 27 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. Imperial Hint set a six-furlong track record to score a repeat win in the race, completing the distance in 1:07.92. Mitole dueled for the early lead with Strike Force and faded to finish third.

Mitole bounced back smartly in his next race as he set a new stakes record and earned his third Grade 1 win of the year when he completed the seven-furlong Forego Stakes Presented by Encore Boston Harbor in 1:20.80.

For his next start, Asmussen and the Heiligbrodts sent Mitole to Santa Anita Park early to train up to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2. Despite a series of swift workouts, he was not sent off as the favorite in a competitive renewal of the Sprint. Regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. kept him off of the early pace, and Mitole took aim on favorite and pacesetter Shancelot in the stretch and wore down that foe to score by 1 ¼-lengths, another signature win in an overall campaign that placed him in contention for Horse of the Year honors.

He did not win Horse of the Year, but in January 2020 Mitole was honored for his spectacular 2019 campaign with the Eclipse Award as Champion Male Sprinter.