Banishing, Pretty Mischievous provide Walsh with strong close to 2022
On the final Monday of 2022, trainer Brendan Walsh and Godolphin raced a filly and a colt at Fair Grounds they hope will be heard from on the first Friday and Saturday of May 2023.
Banishing, a homebred colt, won a 2-year-old dirt-route maiden race by 8 1/2 lengths, running 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.80 and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 90. Banishing’s raw time was a few ticks faster than Jace’s Road’s clocking winning the Gun Runner Stakes later on the same card. And just after the Gun Runner, the 2-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous won for the third time in four starts winning the Untapable, her first stakes score.
Banishing is by Ghostzapper out of the A.P. Indy mare, Dowager. Walsh trains his 4-year-old half-brother, Boxing Day, who’s by Street Boss and is a sprinter. But Banishing debuted in a Churchill Downs one-turn mile, finishing an encouraging fourth, and looks every bit the route horse.
“He’s a lovely big colt and putting the pieces together now,” Walsh said. “He’s a nice horse we’ve always liked, very raw but got plenty of talent.”
Banishing stumbled slightly at the start but righted himself to take the lead under Brian Hernandez Jr., who slowed the pace around the far turn as pace-chasers ganged up on Banishing before asking his mount for more run at the quarter pole and getting it.
“He took it all well and has a really good way about him. We’d be in no rush with him,” Walsh said.
Banishing will be considered for the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 21 but also could wind up in a first-level allowance race scheduled for roughly the same time.
Pretty Mischievous, meanwhile, won her first two races, both sprints, before finishing third in the Grade 2 Golden Rod, won comfortably by Hoosier Philly. In the Untabable, she rated for Hernandez just off a moderate pace, surged in upper stretch to quickly take a lead, and cruised to a 3 1/4-length win. Her time of 1:44.03 for one mile and 70 yards produced an 80 Beyer.
“She really improved going around two turns for the second time. I think this filly is going to be very, very nice,” Walsh said.
Pretty Mischievous is by Into Mischief out of the Tapit mare Pretty City Dancer. Walsh said the likely plan is to pass the Silverbulletday on Jan. 21 and aim for the Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds.
Walsh said Santin, among the better American grass horses of 2022, came into his Fair Grounds barn last week after a couple weeks of farm rest following a fourth-place finish Nov. 26 at Del Mar in the Seabiscuit. Santin finished fourth this past February in the Fair Grounds Stakes, then was second in the Muniz Memorial before capturing the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill. Racing over the same course in August, he won the Grade 1 Arlington Million before going off form this fall. Walsh said a repeat bid in the Old Forester Turf Classic is a likely spring goal, but that Santin might not be ready to make his 2023 debut until March.
Walsh won another Dec. 26 race with the older mare Moon Swag, who got a career-best Beyer of 88 landing the Spanky Broussard Memorial by 2 1/2 lengths. Moon Swag, owned by Farfellow Farm, goes next in the Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 28 or the Bayakoa on Feb. 4 at Oaklawn.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.