Mission Impazible, a Taylor Made sales graduate by the farm’s sire Unbridled’s Song, put himself into the Triple Crown picture with a thrilling victory in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Mar. 27. The race is the meet’s feature race for 3-year-olds looking to make the starting gate for the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Mission Impazible wins the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby Lou Hodges Photo

Breaking from post two in the field of 13, Mission Impazible was in second after a quarter mile. The field was bunched up somewhat on the backstretch, and Rajiv Maragh, who was aboard for the first time, decided to ease his mount back a bit from some of the others making early moves. Maragh made what was ultimately the winning move at the head of the long Fair Grounds stretch, switching to the outside to take aim at the leaders. A four-horse battle ensued in the final furlong, but the dark gray got the best of his foes, winning by three-quarters of a length, with pacesetter A Little Warm second, and a neck separating Drosselmeyer and Discreetly Mine.

The Louisiana Derby victory improved Mission Impazible’s record to 2-1-1 from five starts. He broke his maiden in his debut in April of 2009 at Keeneland. He jumped right into stakes company in his next start, finishing a good third in the Kentucky Juvenile (G3). He started out 2010 with a near-miss second in an allowance sprint at Gulfstream in early January. He shipped to Oaklawn for the Feb. 20 Southwest S. (G3), where he was a deceptively good fourth in his first race around two turns. The Southwest was a learning experience that set him up nicely for the Louisiana Derby run.

Mission Impazible was consigned to the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale by Taylor Made, where he sold for $200,000 to his current owner Twin Creeks Racing Stable LLC. The colt is trained by Todd Pletcher. With the $450,000 payday, Mission Impazible increased his lifetime earnings to $512,754.

Mission Impazible is the fourth new graded stakes winner this year by Unbridled’s Song, and the third within the past two weeks. Unbridled’s Song has already sired 10 stakes horses in 2010, and is America’s co-leading sire of graded winners. Three-year-old colt Winslow Homer and the fillies Warbling and Unrivaled Belle join Mission Impazible as graded stakes winners this year.