Like father, like son? We’ll see.

Six years after the mighty Mitole captured the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), one of his most promising offspring to date, Booth, can do the same in the six-furlong race for older horses Saturday at Oaklawn.

From the same connections as Mitole, Booth is seeking his third consecutive stakes victory at the 2024-2025 Oaklawn meeting after dusting his rivals by a combined seven front-running lengths in the inaugural $145,000 Commodore Overnight Feb. 24 and the $250,000 Whitmore (G3) March 15. Both races were six furlongs.

“He’s just matured into his own,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It’s great to see Mitole reproduce something so similar to him.”

The Count Fleet and $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) headline a 12-race card that begins at 12:20 p.m. CDT. Weather permitting, the infield will be open. Probable post time for the Count Fleet, the eighth race, is 4:04 p.m. Booth is the 3-5 favorite in the seven-horse Count Fleet field.

Booth, 4, is from the first crop of Mitole, North America’s champion male sprinter of 2019 who punctuated his career with a victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita for Asmussen and Texas owners William and Corinne Heiligbrodt.

Then a 4-year-old, Mitole, won the 2019 Count Fleet by 2 ¾ front-running lengths over Whitmore, who returned to capture the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and an Eclipse Award that year as North America’s champion male sprinter.

The Count Fleet was the fifth of seven consecutive victories for Mitole and, at the time, his third in stakes company.

The Heiligbrodts, among the most successful owners in Oaklawn history, sold Mitole to Kentucky’s Spendthrift Farm, where he began his stallion career in 2020 for a $25,000 fee. They maintained breeding rights in Mitole and further supported him at public auction.

Along with Jackpot Farm (Terry Green), the Heiligbrodts secured Booth for $225,000 at the 2023 OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. Whispering Oaks Farm (Carrol Castille) is now a co-owner.

Booth nudged Mitole toward his title as North America leading first-crop sire of 2023 with an eye-catching 5 ¼-length debut victory over Nash, later a Kentucky Derby prospect, in October at Keeneland. But Booth was winless in three subsequent stakes races until his breakout performance in the Commodore Overnight.

Under Erik Asmussen, North America’s 2024 champion apprentice jockey, Booth rocketed out of the gate and set blistering fractions of :21.93 for the first quarter and :44.98 for a half-mile before rolling home by 4 ¾ lengths. The final time, a meet-best 1:08.64, generated a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Mitole ran 1:08.41 in his first career stakes victory, the $150,000 Bachelor for 3-year-olds in 2018 at Oaklawn.

Booth received a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 ¼-length victory in the Whitmore, the final major local prep for the Count Fleet, a race Steve Asmussen has won three consecutive years and a record six times overall.

“What an unbelievable legacy,” Asmussen said, referring to the Heiligbrodts and swift sprinters. “When (Booth) broke his maiden against Nash at Keeneland, he couldn’t have looked any better and it’s so good to see him back into form.”

It’s been a long wait, particularly for William Heiligbrodt.

The Commodore Overnight marked Heiligbrodt’s first appearance at Oaklawn since Mitole won the Count Fleet in 2019. Heiligbrodt returned for the Whitmore – Booth’s graded stakes debut – in a blue sports coat, which he said he hadn’t worn since Mitole’s victory in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Heiligbrodt also carried his 2019 Breeders’ Cup badge and paddock pass.

“He’s the closest thing I’ve had to Mitole, let’s put it that way,” Heiligbrodt said moments after the Whitmore. “I brought along Mitole’s winning stuff just to help him. I’ve been saving it until I had a good enough Mitole to bring to the track. This one’s fast. He likes a fast track. He likes to go fast.”

Booth is scheduled to break from post 3 Saturday under Erik Asmussen and carry top weight of 123 pounds. The Count Fleet also drew millionaire multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Tejano Twist for trainer Chris Hartman and Grade 2 winner Anarchist for trainer Doug O’Neill. Tejano Twist ran second in last year’s Count Fleet.