Honest Mischief immediately served notice he was going to be a force in his adopted home state of New York. The Juddmonte Farm homebred covered 127 mares at Sequel Stallions in his initial season in 2021, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. That was not only a phenomenal number for a new stallion in a regional marketplace, it made him the busiest stallion overall in New York. The young sire’s resulting first crop are now yearlings and will have a coming-out party at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale on Aug. 13-14. New York “has brought in some very interesting new stallions recently,” said George Adams, principal of the regionally invested Housatonic Bloodstock. “With the way that [other sons of Into Mischief] have done with their first 2-year-olds, you would have to think that Honest Mischief will have a ton of support.” Honest Mischief, trained by Chad Brown for Juddmonte, put together a racing record of 9-4-3-1, with a win in the City of Laurel Stakes in Maryland, a runner-up effort in the Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs, and a third in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga. He retired to Sequel with the support of Juddmonte, with Sequel’s Becky Thomas, at the time, saying it was “beyond exciting,” and that she was “honored” to work with Juddmonte. Honest Mischief has a sire’s pedigree on both sides of his page, doubtlessly contributing to his early popularity. He is by four-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, whose early sons to stud include the successful Goldencents and Practical Joke, and whose champion son Authentic, standing in Kentucky, is a leader of this first-crop sire class commercially. Honest Mischief is the only son of Into Mischief in New York. “Being able to provide that line here in New York for our breeders, and being a New York-based sire, that makes it all the more fruitful to those who bid and invest in our New York-bred programs and New York-sired horses,” said Najja Thompson, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders. Honest Mischief is one of four stakes winners out of Grade 1 winner Honest Lady, also the dam of Grade 1 winner First Defence, sire of champion Close Hatches. Honest Lady is out of Broodmare of the Year Toussaud, whose foals include Belmont Stakes winner and influential sire Empire Maker. Honest Mischief averaged $37,273 from 11 weanlings sold last year, well more than five times his introductory stud fee of $6,500. He has 15 yearlings in the New York-bred catalog, including half-siblings to stakes winners Fingal’s Cave and Kloepatra, and yearlings out of stakes winners Another World and Catcha Rising Star. Another popular young New York resident is Fog of War, who covered 92 mares in his first season at Questroyal/Hidden Lake Farm near Stillwater. That placed him third in the state behind Honest Mischief and prominent established sire Central Banker, who covered 98. Fog of War, by War Front, has a single yearling in this New York-bred catalog. The young stallion, who raced for Peter Brant and also was trained by Brown, won the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine as a juvenile. Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions in Stillwater brought in a pair of newcomers in 2021 in Kentucky Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee (one yearling in catalog) and multiple stakes winner King for a Day (seven). Rounding out a quintet of first-crop New York-resident sires in the Fasig-Tipton catalog is Grade 3 winner Name Changer (two), who stands at Kaz Hill Farm in Middletown.