Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Pretty Mischievous, winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in her last start, captured the $500,000 Acorn S. (G1) at Belmont Park on Friday, June 9, giving her back-to-back Grade 1 scores for trainer Brendan Walsh.
Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Pretty Mischievous sat off of Munny’s Gold in the early stages of the 1 1/16-mile test, tracking the pacesetter through fractions of :23.34, :26.37, and 1:10.86. Entering the stretch, Pretty Mischievous overtook the tiring Munny’s Gold and then repelled a stern bid from Dorth Vader through the stretch to pevail by a head at the wire, stopping the clock in 1:43.33.
“I just wanted to make sure my filly felt her (Dorth Vader) and acknowledged that she was there,” Gaffalione said of Pretty Mischievous. “I knew (Dorth Vader) wouldn’t have been able to get by once she figured out someone was there.
“I’m just so proud of her,” he added. “She’s really developed into an amazing filly. She seems to just be getting bigger and stronger with each race. She just has so much talent. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet.”
The win provided Walsh with his initial Grade 1 win on the NYRA circuit.
“She’s just a great filly,” Walsh said. “It’s unbelievable and such an honor to have her for the people we have her (for). “I think she’ll get better and better as the year goes on.”
A daughter of Into Mischief out of the Grade 1-winning Tapit mare Pretty City Dancer, Pretty Mischievous is now a winner in six of eight lifetime starts and has amassed earnings of $1,481,560 for her owner-breeder Godolphin.