Pretty Mischievous edges away from Miracle to win Rachel Alexandra Stakes
Pretty Mischievous outlasted a stubborn pacesetting Miracle to win Saturday’s Grade 2, $291,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes by three-quarters of a length to put herself squarely in the mix for the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in 11 weeks.
Meanwhile, it was 7 3/4 lengths back in third to Hoosier Philly, previously undefeated in three starts and the heavy 2-5 favorite Saturday. Hoosier Philly bobbled at the break under Edgar Morales and raced behind a slow pace and couldn’t kick on in the lane. Vahva finished fourth, followed by Chop Chop and Knockyoursocksoff.
The win was the fourth from five starts for Pretty Mischievous, a 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief owned and bred by Godolphin Racing, which earlier in the day won the Albert M. Stall Memorial with Lake Lucerne at Fair Grounds and the Heavenly Prize Invitational at Aqueduct with Frost Point.
Pretty Mischievous’s lone defeat entering the Rachel Alexandra was a third-place finish behind Hoosier Philly in the Grade 2 Golden Rod on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. She rebounded from that effort with a solid 1 3/4-length victory in the Untapable on Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. Trainer Brendan Walsh skipped the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds in January to point to the Rachel Alexandra.
“She never missed a beat from when she won her first start last [September], so we had to miss one race and not be going to the well too often,” Walsh said in a post-race interview broadcast on the Fair Grounds simulcast feed. “She’s done awfully well from 2 to 3 and the last few weeks she really came into her own. We were quietly confident. If she was going to be good enough was the question, and she proved today she was.”
Under Tyler Gaffalione, Pretty Mischievous was an up close third while Miracle, under John Velazquez, set the pace, with Chop Chop, under Florent Geroux, to her outside. Gaffalione had Petty Mischievious second midway down the backside. Though Chop Chop came back to the outside of Pretty Mischievous entering the far turn, she couldn’t kick on when the running started.
At the top of the lane, Gaffalione was able to get Pretty Mischievous outside for the stretch run. She hooked up with Miracle at the three-sixteenths, and those two continued on through the lane before Pretty Mischievous edged away late.
“Wound up working out a pretty good trip,” Gaffalione said. “Got out when I needed to, and she finished the job.”
Pretty Mischievous covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.15 and returned $18.20 as the third choice in the field of six. Pretty Mischievous earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
Walsh said Pretty Mischievous would have one more run before the Kentucky Oaks. The two most logical options would seem to be the Grade 2, $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 25 or the Grade 1, $600,000 Ashland on April 7 at Keeneland.
Tom Amoss, the trainer of Hoosier Philly, noted that his filly stumbled out of the gate and got caught behind a slow pace but the result was a still “a big disappointment.”
“She stumbled out of the gate and fell in a bad spot behind horses on a pace that was very, very slow,” Amoss said. “Hopefully, this moves us forward, but this is not what I anticipated.”
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